


The Phantom

by a_soggy_uncrustable



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Apocalypse, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Gen, Luther Hargreeves Being an Asshole, Multi, Other, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Season/Series 01, Superheroes, The Umbrella Academy (TV) Spoilers, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:15:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25664239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_soggy_uncrustable/pseuds/a_soggy_uncrustable
Summary: One day, in 1989, a girl is inexplicably born with what some would call very abnormal abilities. Shortly after birth she is given up to a man named Sir Reginald Hargreeves who is on a quest to adopt as many as these strange children as he can. He only is able to get his hands on 8 of them...-I basically rewrote the entire first season of the show "The Umbrella Academy" and added in an 8th child. I hope you enjoy the read!-
Comments: 9
Kudos: 86





	1. "Death" Means "Family Reunion"

(y/n) stares at the massive wooden door before her, itching the back of her neck as she takes a moment to remind herself to let go of the breath she was holding as she stood there. She can't help but get goosebumps when she hears the faint voices inside. 

"Here goes nothing..." She sighs quietly to herself. She shakily brings up a fist to the door, staring at her own knuckles as they barely hit the dark stained wood. It was taking everything in her to not bolt from the door step as soon as the last knock echoed from inside. Shaking at the thought of having to face her family again after all of these years, she crosses her arms and stares down at her own feet

"(y/n)?" 

(y/n) whips her head up and stares wide eyed at the familiar face before her.

"Pogo!" She exclaims at the small chimpanzee. She feels the corners of her mouth pull up into a smile as she begins to relax in his benevolent eyes. 

"It's s nice to see you, (y/n)" He begins, taking her hand in his to guide her into the home,"I'm so glad you could make it."

"Of course, Pogo!" She replies kindly, placing a gentle hand on top of his furry one in a reassuring way ,"It's so nice to see you too!"

He lets his gaze wander on her for a moment before chuckling softly to himself. Almost in disbelief at the sight of her. She kneels down onto her knee to wrap him up in her arms, nuzzling the small ape and breathing in his comforting scent. 

"How have you been?" (y/n) questions as she pulls away from him. He stays quiet for a brief moment before smiling sadly

"Things could be better, but things could also be worse" he admits quietly. She nods in understanding and places a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it slightly before letting it fall back to her side. He lets out a loud sigh before taking a moment to look around the room.

"You're the last person to arrive" He begins, returning his gaze onto her ,"You should try to go and say hello"

"hello?" (y/n) nervously picks at her fingernails ,"sounds a lot easier than it is" 

Pogo chuckles lightly before walking closer and completely shifting his gaze onto the large staircase behind her.

"It's going to be tough, my dear" He sighs again before pointing a shaky finger towards the stairs ,"But, I'm sure you'll be fine."

She turns around on her heels and lets her eyes follow his hands direction, her gaze slowly landing on a large figure standing at the top of the staircase. She gulps down the lump in her throat and gives a nervous smile to Pogo

"You can do it, (y/n)" He whispers confidently. Before she knew it, he was walking away and disappearing into the other room. She lets out a sigh and returns her eyes to the figure still standing quietly at the top of the stairs. (y/n) lets herself take a moment to really look at the tall silhouette. Her eyes widen in surprise once she registers that the incredibly muscular man is actually her brother Luther, number 1.

"Luther?" She calls out hesitantly. The man makes his way to the bottom of the stairs and looks at her for a moment. His eyebrows are furrowed as he tries to figure out who she is

"(y/n)?" He replies with a small smile. She takes a few steps forward and gasps at the sight of him

"I can't believe it's you!" She glances down and back up again before reaching out and hugging him lightly ,"How did you get so big?"

"Late bloomer" He chuckles lightly patting her on the shoulder. When she pulls away from him he studies her for a moment.

"What happened to you? It's like you dropped off the face of the earth after you left-" He stops suddenly and his gaze turns behind her. (y/n), confused, turns around and smiles at the girl standing in the doorway. Her sister Allison grins back.

"I should probably go and check up on some things upstairs" Luther says clearing his throat. (y/n) turns back to reply, but he's already almost up the first flight of stairs. She stares at him as he leaves and chalks up his sudden departure on Allison's presence. She smiles to herself, remembering how close those two were and the countless googly eyes they've made towards each other during meal times. Turning back around to Allison who was also watching as Luther left, she takes a couple steps toward her

"Allison!" She exclaims excitedly. Her sister walks slowly towards her with a light smile and reaches out her arms to hug her

"(y/n). It's been so long." She quietly replies. (y/n) stands onto the balls of her feet and wraps her arms around her sisters shoulders

"It really has, hasn't it?" (y/n) pulls away and looks at her sister for a moment before chuckling ," Why is everybody so much taller than me now?"

"A better question is, What's your skincare routine? You still look like a teenager!" She laughs lightly.

"I guess growing up isn't for everybody, you know?"

(y/n) takes a moment to look around and spots her mother sitting alone in the next room. Wearing a light blue dress dotted with white flowers, she sits quietly in the room almost as if she were a piece of furniture as well. (y/n) looks at her for a moment before calling out

"Hi, Mom" She says sweetly. (y/n) waits for a moment and turns to her sister Allison when there isn't a reply. Allison looks at their mother sadly

"She hasn't really been responding today" She sighs and turns away to start walking up the stairs ,"We're guessing that dads death must have something to do with it."

"Do you think she'll be okay?"

Allison looks over her shoulder for a moment and smiles sadly ,"I'm sure she'll be fine. She isn't like us after all."

(y/n) looks over at Mom one last time before following Allison up the staircase. They share a few stray comments about the state of the house and how strange it feels to be back home after all of these years, but (y/n) eventually excuses herself from the conversation

"I'm going to go and check out my old room real quick" She says quickly while she holds her sisters hand for a moment ,"I'll meet back up with you later, okay?"

Allison gives her a sweet smile and gently pats her hand ,"Of course! Have fun with the nostalgia"

(y/n) returns the smile before turning around to head down the wide hallway before her. As she passes by the doors, she makes mental notes on who the rooms belonged to. It takes her a second to remember which one was hers, but she quickly recalls the constant smell of marijuana and realizes its the room next to Klaus's. She laughs lightly to herself when she pushes open the door and spots the hideous posters on the wall opposite to her. Under those is a small wooden desk piled with papers and pens. When she walks further into the room and picks up the crinkled pieces of paper, she finds little doodles and notes from when she and the other kids would "talk" to each other during their meals.

"You were always the sentimental type" A voice calls out from behind her. She balls up the paper and turns on her heels to find Pogo standing in the doorway. When she sees his kind smile she laughs and scratches the back of her neck

"Yeah, I guess so" She agrees quietly as she scans the room. Her walls were covered in strange items that nobody could ever remember where they came from, but she could never forget the stories attached to them. A bent bottle cap taped up next to the door from when Diego was first experimenting with his "curving" power and hit her right smack in the forehead. A crinkled up note from Klaus that contained an ungodly amount of swear words that he had passed to her under the table during one of their meals. Even a ball point pen that Allison took from the bank mission and gave to her because she knew that (y/n) would like it.

"You're father always hated that you did this-" He gestures with his walking stick to the wall filled with junk ,"But I found it quite charming."

They both take a moment and look at the various items that she had collected over the years. Pogo turns to look at her and sighs deeply. When she faces him she is a bit taken aback by how sad his expression seems

"It was a shame when you left" he says with a sad smile ,"I feel like I was finding things, left and right, that I just knew you would love to put up on that wall."

"Pogo..."

"No, it's alright." he holds his hand up and smiles a bit more brightly this time ,"I don't mean to make you feel guilty. I just want to make sure that you, all of you, know that we missed you greatly after you left."

She bends down and pulls him into a hug ,"I missed you too" she says quietly. He pats her on the shoulders before letting go and turning to walk away.   
"Oh, and by the way" He turns with a grin and motions towards one of the papers hanging by the door frame ,"I am not particularly fond of this note you received from Master Klaus. Please consider taking it down, yes?"

"I'll think about it" She laughs and watches as he finally leaves. She moves closer so that she can read the note better and shakes her head, chuckling softly to herself

"Yeah, I'm keeping this one."

(y/n) takes the next few minutes silently letting her eyes wander. She makes a short checklist of all of the things she is going to take back to her own place and smiles to herself when she realizes that her list is getting far too long. To save herself from becoming a hoarder, she decides it would be best to leave and seek out her sister Allison again. Making her way out of her old bedroom, she hears voices coming from her father's study across the hall.

"Is that who I think it is?" she quietly questions when she recognizes one of the voices. She walks faster now and stops just outside of the double doors. She suddenly remembers a time when these doors seemed too big and scary to go near. (y/n), upon hearing that familiar male voice again, snaps out of her imagination and finally looks past the dark wood stained frame. She smiles at the sight of her brother Klaus and giggles to herself as she watches him poke fun at their sister Allison.

"I wanted to get your autograph added to my collection!" Klaus teases. (y/n) makes her way further into the room and Klaus looks at her, smiling brightly.

"Is that my favorite little Ghostie?" He questions with his hands on his hips. She chuckles and makes her way over to her brother to pull him into a tight hug.

"Forgot how much I missed that" She replies sarcastically. He pulls away for a second and studies her face

"Wow, it's like you haven't aged a day since we last saw you!" He pinches her cheeks and purses his lips, "You're still a little baby" He coos. She laughs and swats his hands away. When he puts his hands up defensively, Allison grabs a hold of the plastic band around his wrist.

"Just out of rehab?" She asks. He pulls his wrist away and fiddles around with the bracelet

"Oh no no no no, I'm done with all of that" He sighs dramatically and clutches his chest, "I just came down here to prove to myself that the old man was really gone"

Allison and (y/n) look at each other with raised eyebrows.

"And he his!" He says suddenly while clapping his hands enthusiastically ,"He's dead! Yay!"

Allison rolls her eyes and leans against the table with crossed arms. (y/n) can't help but smile a little at her brother as she continues to look at the small trinkets on her father's desk.

"You know how I know?" He continues ,"Because if he were alive, not one of us would be allowed to even step foot in this room."

Both of the sisters nod quietly as he continues

"He was always in here, our whole childhood, plotting his next torment, right?" He chuckles as he sits down into their fathers chair and noisily puts his feet up onto the desk ,"Remember how he used to look at us?"

They all look up at the portrait of their father hanging above them. Klaus points to their fathers frowning face and mockingly copies it

"That scowl? Thank Christ he wasn't our real father so we couldn't inherit those-" He pauses for a moment and uses his fingers to stretch out his eyelids as he looks between the two girls ,"Cold dead eyes!"

"You're ridiculous" (y/n) laughs. Allison chuckles quietly and paws through the pages of a book she's found. Klaus, continuing his mockery, scowls hard at (y/n) which makes her laugh even harder

"Number 8, I thought-"

"Get out of his chair" A booming voice suddenly called out from behind her. She turns to look and sees Luther standing in the doorway, glaring at Klaus.

"Oh wow, Luther" Klaus replies in awe as he stands up from the chair ,"You really filled out over the years, huh?"

"Klaus" Luther warns. Klaus puts up a hand in defense and begins to walk away

"Save the lecture. I was already leaving. You guys can just talk amongst yourselves-" Luther stops him suddenly and grips onto his fur coat. Klaus stares up at him, surprised by this action.

"Drop it

"Ex-squeeze me?" Klaus asks with raised eyebrows

"Do it. Now" Luther demands in a low voice

"Alright, Alright!" Klaus whines as he makes his way back over to the desk. He begins to reach into various pockets and dumps everything he's taken in a messy pile while glaring at Luther

"It's just an advance on our inheritance!" he explains as items drop onto the floor with a loud thud ,"No need to get your little panties in a bunch"

Luther watches quietly until Klaus seems to be finished and makes a dramatic exit with the slam of the door behind him. (y/n) can't help but giggle as she watches him leave.

"You know what? I'm gonna go too" She says after a few seconds of silence ,"I still need to meet with a few more people"

Luther and Allison give her a small smile as she makes her way out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Once she's out of the room, she looks around and takes in the upper hallway. Old pictures and paintings hugged the walls and she let her fingertips graze the gold frames as she walked slowly down the hall. She smiles softly as she remembers the times she's ran down this hall with her siblings to get in uniform for a mission. She recalls a time when she had been a little too reckless and broke one of the portraits. She was lectured for what seemed like an eternity and she chuckles at the thought of how she must have cried for at least half of it. She remembers how Klaus came up to her afterwards and flipped their father off when he turned his back to them.

"Man, he really hasn't changed has he?" She sighs. Before she knows it she's walking down the staircase and making her way back into the living room to possibly try and talk to Mom. When she turns the corner however, she sees Vanya and Pogo standing in front of the large portrait of Number 5. She steps further into the room and takes a moment to gaze upon the picture of her brother. She sighs deeply as a dark blue sadness washes over her. It seemed like it was just yesterday that they were both giggling at the way he would pop around to scare their other siblings. Sure, he was annoying at times whenever he would insinuate that he was better than everybody else, but she kind of liked that about him. She admired the way that he carried himself and his determination to do better. The truth is, she missed him dearly and always held hope in her heart that he would come back with that cocky expression always plastered on his face. That or, at the very least, be safe and happy wherever he ended up. She pries her eyes away from the picture and lets her gaze fall upon Vanya. She watches as her sister talks to Pogo in her quiet voice and waits for a moment in which she might be able to intervene and steal her from him. When the conversation dies down until the both of them are standing and smiling at each other (y/n) makes her move.

She walks quietly over to Vanya as to not startle her and taps her lightly on the shoulder. Vanya quickly turns around and her eyes meet with her sisters

"Oh, (y/n), hey" She greets quietly

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting, it's just really good to see you" (y/n) pulls her into a hug and rubs her sisters back in an almost motherly manner. Pogo gives her a kind smile and a nod before making his way out of the room.

"It's good to see you too, (y/n)" She hugs her back for a second and pulls away ,"How have you been?"

"Oh, you know, got a lot of sleep these past few years" (y/n) jokes, rubbing the back of her neck. Vanya gives her a light smile and fiddles with the book still clutched tightly in her hands. (y/n), noticing the movement, moves her gaze onto the cover and chuckles

"I guess you've been busy these days huh?" Vanya looks down at her hands and (y/n) can see her shift uncomfortably as she passes the book from one hand to the other.

"Yeah, you could say that" She replies almost to herself

"You had a lot of nerve, you know that? Putting us on display for the whole world to see how messed up we were" (y/n) nudges her sister to try and make sure she knew she was joking. Vanya simply stares at her own feet and shrugs, picking at her fingernails.

"Hey... I actually thought it was kind of cool" She reassures ," I mean it was definitely ballsy, I'll tell you that, but you're a good writer. I think you've found yourself another talent"

Vanya looks up at her sister and gives her a small smile. Just as (y/n) is about to say something, Luther's almost thundering steps make the two girls turn towards the entryway. Luther makes his way in, nodding to the two girls, and takes a seat in the middle of the room. Allison is close behind him and takes the seat next to him. Vanya nods over to the couch and soon both her and (y/n) are slowly sinking into the leather cushions. Diego and Klaus are the last to enter. Diego takes the seat in between Allison and Luther and scans the room, his eyes eventually landing on (y/n)

"Hey Ghostie" He says with a smirk. (y/n) rolls her eyes and smiles at the dumb nickname

"Hey Diego" She replies coolly. Diego looks her up and down and chuckles to himself

"All these years and you still look like a damn kid" He pauses for a second as Klaus walks over to offer him a drink. He declines his offer with the wave of a hand and glances back over at (y/n) ," I guess it's nice to see your baby face around this shit hole again."

"It's good to see you too" She replies with a smile. Klaus offers the drink to Allison and she takes it. She sips on it gingerly as she looks around the room.

'You guys want anything?" Klaus asks motioning towards the two girls on the couch. They both shake their heads and Klaus makes his way back over to the bar. There's a few minutes of everybody just sitting in their seats and restlessly fiddling with the things around them. The only noise being the constant rattle of Klaus making his concoctions. Soon, just as the air is getting a little too thick for comfort, Luther stands up and clears his throat to get the rooms attention.

"Uh" He pauses for a moment and -looks around ,"I guess we should get this started."

Everybody turns their gaze to Luther's large figure and listens intently. Klaus is still in the background making as much noise as possible with his drinks as Luther glares at him for a moment before clearing his throat again

"So, I figured we could have a sort of memorial service in the courtyard at sundown. Say a few words, just at Dads favorite spot-"

"Dad had a favorite spot?" Allison interrupts with a questioning look in her eyes. He turns to her and furrows his eyebrows

"Yeah, you know, under the oak tree" He states confidently. He looks around the room at the confused faces and he realizes that they have no idea what he's talking about.

"The oak tree?" (y/n) questions almost to herself.

"Yeah, we used to sit out there all the time..." He pauses for a moment and adds in a quiet tone ,"None of you ever did that?"

Klaus then barges in with a drink, a trophy in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. (y/n) stares at him as he stumbles into the family circle and laughs quietly to herself

"Will there be refreshments?" Klaus asks looking at each sister with a big smile plastered onto his face ,"Tea? Scones? Cucumber sandwiches are always a winner"

"What? No." Luther replies seriously ,"And put that out. Dad didn't allow smoking in here."

Klaus shrugs and places the cigarette between his lips as he twirls around to the other side of the room. Allison, following his movements scoffs and points over at her brother

"Is that my skirt?"

"What?" Klaus pauses and looks down at his own legs for a moment admiring the black fabric hanging from his hips ,"Oh! Yeah, this. I found it in your room. It's a little dated, I know, but it's very breathey on the...Bits"

"How do you look better in skirts than I do?" (y/n) asks jokingly as she watches him move the fabric around in his hands

"I just have the legs for it, babe" He replies winking at her.

"Hey! Listen up!" Luther demands abruptly ,"There's still some important things that we need to discuss, alright?"

"Like what?" Diego questions, slowly letting his cold gaze move up to Luther. Luther shifts his body so he is partially facing his brother. (y/n) notices that the tension between them is almost exactly the same as when they were children.

"Like the way he died"

"And here we go" Diego rolls his eyes and lets out a deep sigh. Vanya tilts her head to the side in confusion and shifts in her seat so Klaus can sit in between her and (y/n). He sinks down with a groan and lets his eyes flutter shut.

"I don't understand" Vanya starts slowly ,"I thought that they said it was a heart attack."

"Yeah, according to the coroner"

"Well wouldn't they know?" Vanya asks moving forward in her seat.

"Theoretically"

"Theoretically?" Allison echoes. Everybody's attention is now fully on Luther. They look at each other for brief moments to try and figure out if anyone else is understanding what is going on.

"What are you talking about, Luther? It's their job to figure out what happened and that was they came up with. Are you saying that they lied?" (y/n) questions suddenly. Luther opens his mouth for a second and closes it just as fast. They watch as he thinks for a moment.

"I'm just saying, at the very least, something else might have happened." He tries to explain ,"The last time I talked to Dad, he sounded strange."

"Oh, quelle surprise!" Klaus joins in as he gurgles his drink. All of the other siblings glance over at him, but curiously lean back into the conversation

"Strange how?" Allison asks

"He sounded on edge. Told me to be careful who to trust."

"Luther" Diego sighs ,"he was a paranoid, bitter, old man who was starting to lose what was left of his marbles"

Diego stands up slowly and walks towards his brother. The other siblings watch as Luther shifts uncomfortably and tries to wrack his brain of some type of explanation to get them to understand.

"No." He states confidently ,"He must have known something was going to happen"

Luther stops suddenly and turns his gaze onto Klaus who is somewhere in his own world, staring up at the ceiling and blowing rings of smoke out of his mouth

"Look, I know you don't like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad."

Klaus brings his head down and looks in between Vanya and (y/n) who both nod towards Luther. He stares at him for a moment in disbelief and points at his chest

"I can't just call Dad in the afterlife and be like ,'Dad, could you just...Stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take a quick call?'"

"Since when?" Luther scoffs ,"That's your thing"

"I'm not in the right...Frame of mind." Klaus says in defense

"You're high?" Allison questions without looking up from her drink, swirling it around slowly.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Klaus laughs in response and gestures to the other people in the room ,"I mean, how are you not, listening to this nonsense?"

He then slumps back into the leather couch and begins chugging down his drink. Luther lets out a deep sigh and points a finger at his brother

"Well, sober up! This is important" Klaus groans in response and closes his eyes. He leans over and lets his head rest on (y/n)'s shoulder as he continues smoking his cigarette. She lightly pats his leg and continues listening to the discussion.

""Then there is the issue of the missing monocle" Luther tries to continue but is almost immediately interrupted by Diego

"Who gives a shit about some stupid monocle" He scoffs

"Exactly!" Luther exclaims turning to Diego ,"It's worthless. So whoever took it, It must have been personal. Someone close to him. Someone with a grudge."

Suddenly the air in the room becomes thick with tension. The siblings all looking at each other once again to try and see if anyone else has figured it out, but nobody coming to an exact conclusion. (y/n) stares hard at Luther and shakes her head at even the possibility of what he might be implying

"Where are you going with this?" Klaus asks, almost hurt. Diego turns to Luther and looks at him with an intense glare before chuckling lowly to himself

"Oh, isn't it obvious, Klaus?" He starts ,"He thinks one of us killed Dad"

Everybody's eyes are on Luther at those last words. (y/n) can see how almost all of them are trying to process the idea and how desperately they want Luther to deny it or at least give a different explanation. When the seconds start ticking by however, without anyone saying a word, the siblings stare in disbelief at their brother

"You do?" Klaus questions, his tone implying how hurt he was.

"How could you think that?" Vanya joins in

Diego leans in close to Luther and pats him hard on the chest ,"Great job, Luther. Way to lead."

One by one, they all stand up and give Luther one last look of complete disbelief and leave the room. (y/n) slowly stands up and starts to walk out. Before she's fully out of the room she turns back and stares at Luther.

"You can't just imply shit like that, Luther...You know full well that none of us would have wished death upon that man, even if we hated him." Her voice cracks at the end of her sentence. Luther looks away from her gaze and sits back down onto the chair with a sigh. She takes a moment to look at him before turning away and walking up to her own room to cool down.

Slamming the door behind her, (y/n) lets out a huff and allows her body to rest itself against the hard wood. She eventually lets herself slide down until she's sitting limply on the floor. She places her head in her hands and finds herself fighting back the urge to cry. Suddenly, the image of her father's scowling face forces itself to the front of her thoughts. (y/n) was the most emotional out of all of her siblings and her father hated it. The collecting of "sentimental" items, crying over the pain of a first tattoo, any time she accidentally let herself be vulnerable with her own father, turned into a harsh lecture. Letting herself take a few moments to breathe, she softly massages the back of her neck and closes her eyes.

"13 years..." She sighs ,"It's been a little more than a decade and yet we still act like children."

A small smile forms on her pink lips and she finds herself remembering all of the times she had been in this exact situation. She and her siblings would fight over the most ridiculous things and it would always end with everybody storming off into their rooms. They may have gotten older and lost their father, but they were still the same dysfunctional family from all those years ago. As she spaces off, staring at the grey wall ahead of her, her ears pick up a faint rhythm

"What the hell?" She asks in a hushed voice. (y/n) stands up and hops onto her bed. It creaks loudly under the sudden weight.

"Children behave" A woman's voice starts singing. (y/n) places an ear against the wall and chuckles lightly. If her hearing was as good as it was when she was a kid, then that meant that the music must be coming from Luther's room down the hall.

"That's what they say when we're together" The voice, louder now, continues to sing over the bouncy rhythm. Giggling to herself, (y/n) straightens up and tries to balance herself on top of her mattress. She lets her hips sway to the beat and her hands snake their way up the back of her head. In that moment, (y/n) imagines herself performing on a stage. She giggles at the seemingly silly image and continues to dramatically lip sync to the now faster pace song. As she clumsily turns herself in a circle on the springy mattress, she tries to throw in a few poorly executed robot moves.

"They don't understand And so we're..." (y/n) prepares herself for the bridge of the song and smiles widely. Just as she's about to pull off what she would hope to be her best dance move yet, a sudden crash of lightning causes her to slip and tumble off of her bed.

"Shit!" She exclaims. As she is slowly pulling herself up off of the ground, she looks up to find that the lights are out and the entire house seems to be trembling. Sudden bright flashes of light through the window are shortly followed by the low rumbling of thunder.

"What the hell..." She questions quietly. She swiftly makes her way out of her room and stands in the hallway for a moment, her eyes scanning until they meet Allison's when she steps out into the hallway as well. They both stare at each other for a moment but, before either of them could say anything, Luther was bounding past them

"Everybody, downstairs...Now!" His voice booming louder than the thunder that filled their eardrums already. Without hesitation, Allison and (y/n) were quickly following in his footsteps, slowly grabbing the other siblings as they navigated the dark home.

"It's coming from outside" Allison screams over the thunder. Diego strides past the group and finds his way to the doors that lead out into the courtyard. All of the siblings are quickly at his heels, sharing quick glances at each other in anticipation.

"Whoa..." Diego exclaims, shielding his eyes from the harsh blue light that washed over the siblings as they step out into the yard. The wind howled as it whipped around the family, the air cold and thick as it filled their lungs.

"What is it?" Vanya asks. Noticing her sister move uncomfortably close to the mysterious light, (y/n) rushes to her side and grabs a hold of her arm.

"Don't get too close!" She demands loud enough for all of her siblings to hear. Diego takes a moment to look at her and smirks lightly.

"Yeah, no shit!" He yells back.

"Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly" Luther states suddenly ,"Either that or a black hole. One of the two"

"I don't think I like either of those options" (y/n) jokes lightly. They all take a moment to silently stare at the strange thing in front of them, but a noise from behind them catches their attention.

"Out of the way!" They all whip around to face the voice and find Klaus clumsily running through the group, gripping a fire extinguisher in his hands. Shoving both Luther and Diego, he takes a stand in front of the anomaly

"Hey! What are you-" Luther begins to protest, but stops short when Klaus begins to frantically spray at the portal. They all watch in curiosity as he then, in a fit of frustration, chucks the entire extinguisher at it. If she weren't about to piss her pants already, (y/n) would have pissed her pants laughing at the scene.

"What the hell do you think that's gonna do!?" Allison screams. Klaus throws his hands up in the air and shifts so that he is partially facing the group.

"I don't know!" He helplessly replies ,"Do you have a better idea?"

Before anybody is able to respond, a particularly loud fit of thunder erupts from the portal itself. They all watch in stunned silence as the portal begins to shift, electricity crackling in the tinted blue air.

"Everybody get behind me!" Luther and Diego shout simultaneously. They share a brief moment of disgust with one another before aggressively shoving the rest of the siblings behind themselves.

"I vote for running, c'mon!" Klaus grabs a hold of (y/n)'s sleeves, tugging on them lightly as he shudders at the sight of the growing blue light. For a moment, (y/n) almost takes him up on the offer, but when she turns back to face the light she notices something she didn't see before.

"Uh, is that a person?" She has to scream the question to be heard by the rest of the group. They all squint their eyes and focus on the muddled figure in the now misty blue wall.

"That can't be right..." As soon as the words leave Luther's mouth, a single clap of thunder sends a final tremble through the ground. The misty blue portal almost immediately dissipates, leaving that same muddled figure hanging in midair before dropping down to the ground below with a loud thud. The world around them is suddenly in an uncomfortable silence.

"Is that a little kid?" Vanya quietly asks. (y/n), after studying the person lying on the ground before them, can see that they're a young boy. He groans and shifts uncomfortably in the dirt until he is able to prop himself up and look at each sibling. (y/n) feels her breath get caught in her throat when her eyes meet his.

"Does anybody else see..." Klaus begins, squinting his eyes at the young boy ,"little number Five, or is that just me?"


	2. One Sided Conversation

(y/n), after gulping down a large glass of water, makes her way back to the small wooden table. Keeping her eyes fixed in awe at the younger boy in front of her, she pulls out one of the chairs and sits down next to her sister Vanya. The room is bathed in a pale yellow light and (y/n) can't help but feel anxious at the sound of Diego's rhythmic knife tapping echo throughout the silent room. Prying her eyes from the boy now making a sandwich, she takes a moment to study the faces of her siblings. They all share the same look of disbelief at the sight of Number Five's sudden existence.

"What's the date?" Five asks abruptly ,"The exact date?"

"The 24th" Vanya quickly replies

"Of what?"

"March."

There's a moment of silence as Five contemplates, messily spreading marshmallow fluff onto a slice of bread. The siblings share confused glances as they watch their younger brother, eager to hear more.

"Good" He quietly sighs in relief and begins to spread peanut butter onto the second slice of bread. Luther's face twists in confusion as he shifts uncomfortably in his chair.

"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?" He asks. Klaus, sitting on top of the table with his head resting on the palms of his hands, nods excitedly as he continues to stare at their younger sibling. When Five, acting almost as if he did not even hear the question at all, doesn't answer him, Luther stands and takes a few steps towards him.

"It's been 17 years-" Luther begins, but is cut off immediately by Five

"It's been a lot longer than that" He scoffs. (y/n) furrows her eyebrows at the confusing statement, glancing over at her other siblings to see that they all are doing the same. Using his powers, he teleports through Luther to get to a few napkins resting on the counter.

"Haven't missed that" Luther angrily sighs

"Where did you go?" Diego questions abruptly, his eyebrow twitching in frustration. Five teleports back to the head of the table to finish up his masterpiece of a sandwich

"The future" He begins ,"It's shit by the way."

"Called it!" Klaus exclaims, smugly smiling. Allison lightly elbows him in the side, listening intently as Five continues

"I should've listened to the old man" He walks over to the fridge to grab a drink ,"You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice."

Klaus, clumsily trying to pull down his skirt so that he can sit comfortably without exposing anything, catches the attention of the younger boy

"Nice dress"

"Oh, well, danke!" He smiles at the compliment and winks at him. (y/n), beginning to feel incredibly frustrated by the details Five was failing to provide, tapped on the table to try and pull his attention back to the subject

"Wait, how did you get back?" She questions, confused by his nonchalant state.

"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time"

"That makes no sense." Diego sighs, looking at the faces of the other siblings to make sure that they felt the same way.

"Well it would if you were smarter" Five retorts. Diego, now visibly pissed off, stands up suddenly. Luther, most likely sensing what was about to happen, shoots his arm out to stop him before he starts anything.

"How long were you there?" he asks, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Forty-five years, give or take"

Luther and Diego, upon learning this, sit down slowly and stare at him in perplexity.

"So what are you saying?" Luther begins, but pauses for a moment to fully process this new discovery ,"You're 58?"

Five leans against the table and lets out an annoyed sigh. He pinches the bridge of his nose and shuts his eyes for a moment. (y/n) smiles slightly at the familiar pose.

"No, my consciousness is 58" He finally explains ,"apparently my body is now 13 again."

"Wait, how does that even work?" Vanya questions. The siblings watch in curiosity as Five begins to walk away from the group, taking a large bite from his sandwich

"Delores kept saying the equations were off" He turns back towards the group and smiles lightly ,"bet she's laughing now"

"Delores?" Allison asks, shaking her head slightly at the new name. Five, completely ignoring the question, picks up the newspaper sitting at the edge of the table. He studies the front page for a moment, reading the article about their father's death, before tossing it onto the counter next to him.

"Guess I missed the funeral." He states plainly. Luther furrows his eyebrows and studies his brother for a moment

"How'd you know about that?"

"What part of the future do you not understand?" He nodds over to the paper ,"heart failure huh?"

"Yeah" Diego responds, smirking lightly.

"No" Luther retorts immediately after. Five looks between the two with a mix of confusion and frustration. Diego sighs as he rolls his eyes at his brother, leaning back in his chair to distance himself from him.

"Hmm" Five clicked his tongue, raising his eyebrows at the two men ,"Nice to see nothing's changed."

Five, grabbing his drink in one hand and his sandwich in the other, begins to leave the room.

"Uh, that's it?" Allison begins, following his movement ,"that's all you have to say?"

"What else is there to say?" He continues to walk out of the room ,"The circle of life."

Silence falls upon the room as the siblings gape at each other over what had just happened. (y/n) takes a moment to go over the almost one sided conversation in her head, making mental notes to try and confront him on her own about a few things. She couldn't help but feel almost angry at her brother for being so vague about his whereabouts and how he was feeling. She wanted nothing more than to know what was going on in his head. (y/n) shifts her gaze over to the door Five had walked out of and sighs quietly.

"At least he's alive" She reminds herself. She recalls all of the times she spent worrying over her brother after his disappearance, all of the times she almost cried over the thought that he might have been dead. She may be angry with him now for his nonchalant state, but she sure as hell was relieved to see him.

"Well..." Luther interrupts her thoughts and clears his throat loudly, all of the siblings fix their gaze on him ,"That was interesting."

"Interesting is putting it lightly." (y/n) quietly replies, running her fingers through her hair. Diego, noticing the movement, stares at her anxious figure and chuckles darkly

"Don't go crying on us, casper"

"What?" She returns his gaze and smirks ,"Do you care about me or something?"

His face quickly twists in disgust at the comment. She laughs at the way he rolls his eyes and begins to stand up from the table, moving away from the group.

"As much as I love our family chats" He starts, sarcasm dripping with every word ,"I'd like to get this stupid funeral over with."

"Real respectful, Diego" Allison replies, also beginning to stand and move away from the group. (y/n) watches as all of the other siblings begin to shift and stand from the table, getting ready to leave, something about how normal they all seem bothers (y/n) a bit.

"The funeral is going to be in the yard, near Ben's statue. Be there in 30 minutes" Luther declares, his footsteps echoing throughout the kitchen as he leaves. (y/n) feels her heart stop at the name she hasn't heard in a long time. A name she tried to block out since the accident.   
"So, how are you feeling?" (y/n) snaps back to reality, blinking slowly at Vanya sitting next to her. She glances around the room to find everybody else has left.

"Oh, I guess I'm doing okay" She quietly replies. Vanya raises her eyebrows at this before placing a comforting hand on her sisters knee.

"I guess? Are you sure everything's alright?" She asks, her tired eyes filling with concern.

"Yeah..." (y/n) is hesitant but continues ,"I guess it's just all a bit overwhelming? I don't know...A year of being completely normal, and the first few hours i'm back in this damn house, a portal opens up and spits out a brother I thought was dead."

Vanya nods at this, understanding how she feels, and smiles at her lightly. (y/n) sighs and returns the smile, resting her hand on top of Vanya's

"At least he's alive" She says in an effort to lighten the mood.

"At least he's alive" (y/n) echoes. They both ponder the comforting thought under the warm yellow light above the table. (y/n) suddenly realizes how good it is to be able to talk to her sister. For most of their childhood, Vanya was always absent from activities and because of this she was never able to get very close with anyone. (y/n) takes a moment to look at her sister as she stares off someplace else, lost in her own thoughts. She smiles. Vanya may not have been there with her family as a child, but she was making a strong effort to be here now. (y/n) appreciated that.

"Hey" (y/n) says suddenly, grabbing the attention of her sister ,"Do you think it would be possible to have a little sleepover tonight?"

Vanya looks at her sister in a moment of disbelief, taken aback by the sudden child like question. 

"You can totally say no!" (y/n) quickly tries to add, feeling the moment grow a bit awkward ,"I just thought it would be fun and I'm not sure if I'd like to spend a bunch of time on a train full of crackheads that'd make even Klaus uncomfortable."

"Uh, yeah" Vanya replies, a small smile forming on her thin lips ,"I think that'd be cool"

"Awesome!" (y/n) exclaims, incredibly relieved to not have to take the night train home. She glances at the clock hanging loosely on the wall opposite to her, sighing as she realizes that the funeral is supposed to begin in about 10 minutes.

"I should probably go and change into some warmer clothes" (y/n) groans, lifting herself up from the chair and pointing to the window next to them ,"Looks like its about to start raining"

"How poetic" Vanya replies, staring out into the grey basked world outside. (y/n) nods in agreement before turning on her heels and walking out of the room. She swiftly makes her way up the staircase, but slows down her pace to a stroll down the hallway towards her room. Once she reaches her door however, she stops and turns towards Five's old room further down the hall. She notices that the door is ajar and he's cursing under his breath at something. Curious and a tad concerned, (y/n) decides to walk over to make sure everything is okay. Once at the door, she knocks lightly.

"What?" He asks, his voice tinged with frustration. (y/n) uses her palm to push the door open until her eyes land on him, standing in front of his closet and his eyebrows furrowed deeply

"Is everything alright?" She asks hesitantly, shifting until she is now leaning against the door frame. Without saying a word, he reaches his hand into the closet and yanks out one of the old uniforms we were required to wear as children. She can see the dust fall off of it as he waves it around, staring at her with an annoyed expression

"You wouldn't happen to have any normal clothes I could wear?" He asks, almost begging. (y/n) looks between the outfit and her brother, chuckling lightly at him as she shakes her head

"Perfect" He groans and tosses the outfit onto the bed sitting in the corner. When he focuses his attention back onto his sister however, he studies her eyes. She shifts uncomfortably under his gaze

"Stop worrying about me" He demands softly. (y/n)'s eyes widen slightly in surprise before she smiles lightly, fixing her gaze down at the rotting floorboards

"How did you know?"

"You've hardly changed since I left. I've practically memorized that look you get when you're worrying about something."

"Wow, maybe you really are as smart as you always claimed to be" She smirks lightly, watching in amusement as he rolls his eyes ,"Of course I'm worried about you, Five."

"Don't be, I'm fine" He states plainly. 

"Five, I mean it" She begins, crosses her arms across her chest ,"I know you like to be Mr.Macho Man when it comes to feelings, but I'm here for you. Just like I've always been, okay?" 

When the words pass her lips, she can see a moment of hesitation in his eyes. A gentle vulnerability hidden behind his stormy blue eyes. It takes a moment for his to compose himself once more, shielding his true feelings away, before he can look (y/n) in the eyes again. Much to her dismay, he clears his throat loudly in the way that she knows it's time to change the subject. 

"I should get changed. I have a funeral to attend" He smiles slightly and nods over to the pile of clothes resting at the end of his bed

(y/n) nods and chuckles lightly, placing a hand on the door knob to start closing it, but something holds her back. She pauses for a moment before looking back at her brother, staring at his back as he messily tries to dust off the uniform still sitting on his bed.

"Hey, Five?" She asks hesitantly. He looks over his shoulder at her and raises an eyebrow, a tad annoyed at her still being there.

"I just want to say..." She pauses ,"I'm really happy to see that you're alive"

She studies his expression as it softens. He looks her in the eyes for a second before returning his gaze back onto his clothes, clearing his throat loudly again

"Yeah, uh," He clears his throat again, she swears it sounds as if he's getting choked up, "You too, (y/n)".


	3. Funeral or Fight Club?

(y/n) tugs lightly onto her thick grey sweater, covering her knuckles with the soft fabric. Opening the cool metal door to the backyard, she shivers slightly at the cold breeze that whips past her. The light pitter-patter of rain hitting the concrete benches sitting on the edge of the grass fills her ears. The backyard seems to be painted in grays and blues. Fitting. She sighs. Taking a hold of one of the sleek black umbrella's laying in a pile next to the door, she steps outside and pulls it open.

"You doing okay?" Allison comes up from behind the girl, an umbrella grasped tightly in her hands. (y/n) nods and gives her sister a reassuring smile. 

"As okay as I can be" She admits. Allison nods in understanding before walking past her, Luther following shortly after with their dad's urn pressed protectively against his chest. Following after the two taller siblings, (y/n) makes her way towards Ben's statue. Slowing to a stop a few feet away, she let's her sad gaze fall upon the familiar face of her brother. Something about his youthful appearance being forever set in stone made her heart ache. 

"Are we ready to start?" Luther's voice pulls the girl from her thoughts. Taking a second to peel her eyes away from the statue, she notices the rest of her siblings are present with Allison to her right and Number Five to her left. All of them are standing in a semi-circle with Luther taking a firm stance in the middle of all of them, Fathers urn grasped tightly in one hand. 

"Did something happen?" Their Mother, voice laced with innocent confusion, takes a second to look around at the group. Everybody seems to freeze in place at the question. 

"Dad died..." Allison clears her throat awkwardly ,"Remember?"

"Oh...Yes, of course" (y/n) notices the dejected tone of their mother's voice when she replies. There's a brief moment of silence as the group share concerned glances with each other.

"Is Mom okay?" Allison asks quietly

"Yeah" Diego replies, his voice hinting uncertainty as he stands closer to their mother ,"yeah, she's fine. She just needs to rest. You know, recharge."

Before anybody else is able to question the confusing situation, the sound of a cane clacking against the hard ground gains their attention. Pogo slowly hobbles over to the group of siblings, taking his place in the semi circle with an umbrella in his furry hand.

"Whenever you're ready, dear boy." He motions towards Luther. Luther, upon hearing the chimpanzees approval, takes in a deep breath before beginning. All eyes focus on his massive form as he begins to pull off the top of the intricately designed urn. Slowly flipping the vase over, they all watch in slight disgust as their Father's ashes come tumbling out. (y/n)'s nose scrunches at the pathetic pile of grey dust resting awkwardly on the ground. Out of the corner of her eyes, she can see Klaus cringe slightly at the sight. Luther glances around at the uncomfortable faces around him

"Probably would have been better with some wind..." he mumbles

"Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo quickly tries to recover the situation. When nobody jumps at the opportunity, Pogo clears his throat to begin his own speech. Everybody's ears focus on the chimp, but their eyes remain trained on their Fathers ashes.

"Very well..." He begins ,"In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master, and my friend, and I shall miss him very much." 

Upon hearing Pogo's heartfelt words, (y/n) can't help but tear up a bit. Her tears were not for her father however, they were for the small ape. Glancing over at him now she could see the sadness that overtook his usually stoic features. Pogo truly did care about their father and she could only imagine how hard he must be taking the sudden passing of his companion. 

"He leaves behind a complicated legacy-" 

"He was a monster." Diego suddenly interrupts, his voice unwavering as if he's stating a fact. (y/n)'s (e/c) eyes shoot up to stare at her rain soaked brother, watching as his furious gaze remains fixed upon their father's ashes. A chuckle escapes Klaus's lips.

"He was a bad person and a worse father." He continues ,"The world's better off without him."

"Diego." Allison warns. Her voice only seems to anger him even more. 

"My name is Number Two." A dangerous smirk stretches across his stubbled face ,"You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it."

Upon hearing her name, Mom seems to snap out of her strange unfocused state. A sickeningly sweet smile graces her perfect red stained lips.

"Would anyone like something to eat?"

"No, it's alright, Mom. You don't have to do that." (y/n) replies carefully, eyebrows furrowing at the sight of her mothers carefree face. As if nobody else heard their mother, Diego continues his passionate speech.

"Look, you wanna pay your respects?" (y/n) anxiously watches as Diego makes his way forward, staring down each and every one of his siblings ,"Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was."

"You should stop talking now." Luther urges, his voice low as he clenches his fists in irritation. Diego whips around to face the massive man, eyes narrowed. (y/n) glances over at her other siblings who all share the same frustrated look. It was as if they could all sense what was going to happen next.

"You know, you of all people should be on my side here, Number One" 

"I am warning you."

"After everything he did to you?" Diego takes a dangerous step closer to Luther ,"He had to ship you a million miles away-"

"Diego, stop talking-"

"-That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" Diego lands a hard poke to Luther's chest. Upon seeing the aggressive contact between the two, The entire group of siblings takes this as their cue to step back. In the blink of an eye, the two testosterone filled men are at each others throats. Practically wrestling on their own father's grave.

"Boys, stop this at once!" Pogo's tired pleas fall upon deaf ears as the two continue their brawl. (y/n), feeling her sweater sleeve be tugged on, turns to see Klaus holding tightly onto her and Number Five. Dragging the two of them back like an over protective mother, they all sit down onto one of the slick wet benches near the edge of the garden. 

"Come on big boy!" Diego eggs the larger man on, dodging Luther's massive fists as they swing by. 

"Stop it!" Vanya cries but, just like Pogo, her plea is washed away by the downfall of rain. 

"Hit him! Hit him!" Klaus yells through the cigarette in his mouth. (y/n) lightly nudges the taller boy, warning him, before focusing her attention back onto the fight. Her heart skips a beat when she realizes how close the two are getting to Ben's statue.

"We don't have time for this!" Ben groans, standing up to leave. Just as he makes his way inside, the fight seems to escalate even more. Still teasing the larger man, Diego rolls out of the way to avoid one of Luther's deadly swings. Landing directly in front of Ben's statue, he gets a hard hit in before Luther is swinging at him again. Dodging his attack, the rest of the group watches in horror as Luther's fist slams into the hard metal. With a sickening crack, the statue falls off of it's pedestal and lands with a hard thump onto the slick grass beneath it. Ben's head pops off of his neck and rolls a few feet away. (y/n) cringes at the sight

"And there goes Ben's statue" Allison sighs before walking back inside. 

"Diego, no!" upon hearing Vanya's scream, (y/n) turns to see her brother now holding a knife. The rain bounces off of it's sharpened edge, leaving it glistening under the foggy sky. Before anybody else can react, he hurls the blade at Luther. It slices through the larger mans thick coat and skin. Everything falls silent. The only sound that could be heard over the pattering of the rain was the two men's panting for air. Without uttering a single word, Luther limps his way back inside, clutching tightly onto his arm.

"You never know when to stop, do you?" Vanya, following after Luther, stops just beside Diego. Her voice sounding almost motherly, as if she's scolding a child.

"You got enough material for your sequel yet?" He chuckles bitterly. 

"He was my father too..." With that, she turns to leave. Once she's gone, Diego makes his way over to their mother. (y/n) watches as his scowl softens upon approaching the dazed looking woman. Lightly grasping onto her arm, he leads her back inside, his voice gentle as he talks to her.

"Wow..." Klaus sighs ,"What a fun funeral!"

(y/n) chuckles lightly before standing up onto her feet, glancing over her shoulder at Klaus still sitting on the bench with his pink umbrella hanging loosely in his hand. 

"I'm gonna head inside and get a drink, you wanna join me?" She offers. Klaus stares up at her through the clear plastic of his umbrella, a grateful smile making it's way across his tired face.

"Go on ahead. I'll join you in a second" 

"Don't stay out for too long, okay?" She teases ,"You'll catch a cold in that skirt"

(y/n) takes one last look around the garden, (e/c) eyes falling upon the pitiful pile of ashes laying on top of a loose scattering of leaves. Staring at the pile as it slowly became a grey mud puddle, she felt unsure in her feelings towards her fathers death. Was she sad that he was gone? That was a question that would take years of therapy to answer. Without dwelling too much on the strange thoughts that ran rampant in her mind, she finally turns on her heels and makes her way inside. She's had enough funerals for today.


	4. Parting Ways

Two short glass cups clink lightly together as they are lifted from their shelf, gentle fingers grasping their edges as (y/n) sets them down onto the birch wood table. Leaving and coming back with a tall bottle of Bacardi, she pours the strong alcohol into each cup. (y/n) gingerly grabs a hold of the glass with the smaller amount of the toxic smelling liquor and places it to her lips. Taking a small sip, she sighs at the burning sensation that makes its way down her throat.

"Whoa there, Ghostie!" (y/n) can feel a small smile stretch across her lips at the sound of her brother's friendly teasing ,"Thought you'd be more of a wine type of chick!"

"It's been a stressful day" She chuckles lightly, watching from the corner of her eyes as Klaus takes a seat next to her. Pushing the other glass towards him, she offers a small cheers before taking a long swig. Her eyebrows furrow instinctively at the slightly painful feeling.

"Tell me about it" Klaus mumbles, downing the drink at a somewhat horrifying speed. Slamming the glass back onto the table and refilling it quickly, he gives the girl a goofy smirk to which she lets out a loud laugh. Before the two are able to enjoy their comfortable alone time, just basking in the warm yellow hue of the dining area, Five makes confident strides into the room and heads straight to the kitchen cabinets.

"Klaus, (y/n)" He greets plainly, avoiding the two's curious eyes as he throws open the cabinet doors.

"Looking for something, little guy?" Klaus teases, his words slurring ever so slightly. Five, completely ignoring the taller sibling, continues his raid. (y/n) laughs. In between the giggles however, she noticed her sister Vanya standing awkwardly in the doorway, coat wrapped tightly around her small body as if she was ready to go somewhere.

"Hey, Vanya" (y/n) greets kindly, offering a friendly smile to the nervous looking girl. Upon hearing her name being called, Vanya seems to grow even more anxious, staring down at her own hands as she fiddles with her fingers.

"I'm uh-" She hesitates ,"-I-I'm gonna head on home. Called a taxi and it should be here in a second."

The three siblings seem to stop whatever they're doing, all turning in their spots to stare at the girl with wide eyes. (y/n) could tell that Vanya was feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Something told her this had to do with what Diego had said earlier. Setting down her glass, (y/n) clears her throat suddenly.

"Oh, uh...Already?"

"Yeah, it's just uh-" Vanya scratches the back of her neck ,"I don't really belong here, you know? So, figured I should just say my goodbyes and leave."

Klaus awkwardly glances around the room, visibly unsure of how to respond to his sister. Five decides that his little cabinet raid was more important than what Vanya had to say and continues to loudly scrounge around through the kitchen. Vanya sighs quietly, beginning to leave the room.

"Wait!" (y/n) calls after her ,"What about our little sleepover?"

"Sleepover?" Vanya slowly turns on her heels and leans against the door, her eyes evidently tired. (y/n) smiles shyly under her sisters gaze

"Y-yeah...Remember?" She begins ,"I wanted to stop by, maybe sleepover...Do all that cliche bonding stuff sisters do in the movies? We didn't really get to catch up, you know?"

Vanya's eyes widen slightly, staring at the girl sitting comfortably at the table. Looking into (y/n)'s (e/c) eyes, she could very clearly see the glistening desire the girl had just expressed. A small chuckle escaped her lips. (y/n) smiles at the unfamiliar sight.

"You really meant that?" Vanya questions, her voice hinting at her disbelief.

"Of course!" (y/n) states confidently. Shaking her head slightly, still not fully believing what is happening, Vanya makes her way over to the table and grabs a white napkin resting near the edge. Pulling out a small ballpoint pen from her coat pocket, she scribbles down her address and slides it over to her sister.

"Here" She begins to exit the room ,"See you later, (y/n)"

As soon as their sister leaves, Klaus grabs a hold of the electric blue guitar resting on the wall beside him. Playing a few sour notes, he turns to look at (y/n) with a questioning look in his eyes. The girl tries to ignore his gaze, sipping on her drink once more.

"A sleepover?" He finally asks ,"What are you, a child?"

"Shut up. I'm allowed to want to get to know my family better." (y/n) mumbles into her glass, stifling a giggle when she sees Klaus's blurry form through her cup goofily wiggling his unkempt eyebrows at her.

"Where's Vanya?" Allison's concerned voice suddenly cuts through the air, Klaus and (y/n) turning their attention onto the taller woman striding into the room. Klaus sighs

"Oh, she's gone" He states, playing a couple more notes on the guitar resting limply on his exposed thighs. Placing his bare feet onto the edge of the table, his stolen leather skirt rides up ever so slightly as he gently hugs the instrument close to his chest.

"You just missed her" (y/n)'s voice comes out slightly muffled as she continues to sip on her drink, nose now inside of the clear glass as she finally finishes the strong tasting beverage. Allison throws her expensive looking coat off to the side and makes her way over to the table, her dark skin glowing like honey underneath the yellow light. Five, grasping a large mug covered in a layer of dust in his hand, steps in between the two still seated at the table. (y/n) smiles slightly at the frustrated look that overtook his already sharp features.

"An entire square block, forty-two bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, but no-" He drops the mug onto the table and rolls his eyes ,"-not a single drop of coffee"

"Dad hated caffeine" Allison states plainly

"Well, he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us!" Klaus laughs bitterly, cutting himself off suddenly. His usually playful expression changes serious when he meets eyes with Allison and (y/n) who feel the same way, but decide to stay quiet.

"I'm taking the car" (y/n) is barely able to register what the boy had said before he's shoving his hands into his pockets and making his way towards the doorway. Klaus and (y/n) share a concerned glance before turning towards their younger looking sibling

"Where are you going?" Klaus asks cautiously. Leaning forward in his seat, his eyes swirl with an excited curiosity.

"To get a decent cup of coffee."

"Do you even know how to drive?" Allison questions, arms folded close to her chest in a motherly manner. Five scoffs

"I know how to do everything." His voice is confident.

"I don't know about this, Five" (y/n)'s voice wavers slightly, her worry for the boy evident in her (e/c) eyes ,"I could drive you, it would be no problem."

"I can take care of myself, Ghostie" Although he rolls his eyes in annoyance, he makes sure to give the anxious girl a reassuring smile before disappearing through a flash of cobalt blue light. Klaus leaps up from his chair, using a firm hand on the back of the seat to steady his swaying body.

"I feel like we should try and stop him..." As soon as the words leave his mouth, a mischievous look crosses his face ,"...But then again, I also kinda want to see what happens."

The sound of an engine groaning to life causes the 3 siblings to stare out of the foggy kitchen window behind Klaus, all eyes wide at the slightly concerning sight of a 13 year old darting past in the driver's seat that's too big for him.

"For fuck's sake, he's going to get himself killed..." (y/n) mutters under her breath.

"All right, I guess I'll see you guys in, what-" Diego suddenly barges into the room, black boots stomping through the kitchen until he stops just next to Allison ,"-ten years? When Pogo dies?"

"Not if you die first." Allison states, her words filled with venom when she tries to ignore his presence next to her. Diego slings his large duffel bag over his shoulder

"Yeah, love you too, sis." He turns to her, an evil smirk crossing his face ,"Good luck on your next film...

"Diego" (y/n) warns quietly

"Hope it turns out better than your marriage, huh?" He finishes, ignoring the girl and staring straight into Allison's narrowed eyes. (y/n) watches as her sister opens and closes her mouth, unsure of how to respond to their brother's malicious words. Deciding that it wasn't worth it or being too hurt to reply, Allison quickly leaves the room.

"She didn't deserve that, Dig" (y/n) meets eyes with her brother, watching in slight amusement at the way he rolls his eyes in annoyance at the dumb nickname.

"Oh I beg to differ-" He replies bitterly ,"-She needs to be knocked down a few pegs. Now if you excuse me, I'm leaving this shithole."

"Diego!" She calls after his tall figure when he begins to walk away. He turns ,"I-I just wanted to say that it was nice to see you again and...Please be safe out there.

"Don't worry, Casper," He chuckles lightly at the sight of his distressed looking sister, softening his gaze ,"You guy's won't be burying my body any time soon. See ya."

Watching his form disappear from under the yellow light of the kitchen, Klaus quickly follows after to ask for a ride. (y/n) leans back in her chair and lets out a sad sigh. Listening to the muffled sound of the howling wind ruffling the tree leaves outside, she finds herself slightly yearning for the comfort of confiding in a sibling. Standing up from her seat, grasping the empty glasses in her hands and placing them in the empty sink, She stuffs Vanya's address into her pocket and heads out.


	5. A Story to Tell

"I think this is it?" (y/n) whispers to herself, her lonely form standing underneath a lemon yellow light. Pulling out the tattered napkin, she looks in between the numbers scribbled on it's surface and the metal numbers bolted to the mahogany door in front of her. They match. Stuffing the soft white cloth back into her coat pocket, she holds her closed fist to the door. She knocks. Listening quietly, her ears pick up the faint sound of voices. Two to be exact.

"Uh, Vanya?" She calls out hesitantly, gently rapping her knuckles onto the wood again ,"It's-uh-me? (y/n)?"

As soon as the words leave (y/n)'s mouth, the door swings open, revealing a slightly disheveled Vanya. Looking at Vanya's nervous form and the way it seems her sisters eyes avoid looking directly at her, she clears her throat and offers a kind smile

"I can come back some other time if you're busy-" 

"Let her in" familiar voice suddenly interrupts ,"She should probably hear this too..."

Vanya, stepping aside to reveal the inside of her home, shyly motions for (y/n) to step inside. Quickly removing her thick jacket and holding it against her body, she walks into the apartment. There, sitting comfortably in a tan armchair in the corner, was her brother Number Five. Studying his form, she notices splotches of dried blood on his white button up. Her (e/c) eyes fill with concern.

"Five?" She makes her way over the the small couch opposite to him, her soft voice hesitant ,"What are you doing here?"

"I think he climbed through my window" 

"He climbed through your window?" (y/n) echoes meeting Vanya's tired gaze. Five sighs loudly

"Not important" he quickly replies, motioning for Vanya to come and sit down next to (y/n). Once she complies, sinking down into the soft cushions, he leans back in his own chair and eyes the two carefully.

"I've decided that you two are the only ones I can trust" He begins, fidgeting with his fingers nervously. It's then that (y/n) and Vanya both notice the deepening red blotch of blood seeping through the arm of his navy jacket.

"Why us?" Vanya asks, still eyeing the blood stain cautiously

"Because, unlike our other egotistical siblings, you'll listen to me." There's a few brief moments of silence, the two girls unsure of how to respond to his suddenly serious tone. Noticing the blood beginning to stain Vanya's arm chair, (y/n) finally speaks.

"Vanya, do you have any medical supplies here?" (y/n) turns to look at her sister who nods quickly before leaving the room to grab them. Turning back to Five, (y/n) offers an almost motherly smile

"You can tell us whats on your mind while we bandage you up, okay?" Just as she says this, Vanya is back with a small first aid box. Helping Five roll up his sleeve, apologizing quietly when his nose scrunches up in pain, (y/n)'s eyes widen slightly at what she sees. On his forearm, a dangerously deep gash makes it's way across the length of the muscle. Vanya let's out a deep exhale of breath, her face contorting slightly in discomfort at the sight. Asking for some disinfectant, (y/n) uses her soft hands to gently wipe away at the wound, cleaning off the drying blood as best as she can. Five's steel gaze moves in between the two focused intensely on his wound.

"When I jumped forward and got stuck in the future-" Both girls looks up to meet his eyes ,"do you know what I found?"

"What?" Vanya asks carefully

"Nothing" (y/n) freezes, staring up into his eyes that seem to be holding a lifetime of sadness behind them,"Absolutely nothing."

"Five-" (y/n)'s concerned voice is soft as she tries to continue cleaning his wound. He ignores her, seemingly unfocused. It was as if he was reliving what he saw right before her. The two watch silently as he continues

"As far as I could tell, I was the last person left alive," He stares out of the glass window next to the chair, eyes reflecting the dark cityscape before him, yellow and orange light blinking like fireflies ,"I never figured out what killed the human race, but I did find something else...The date it happens"

Bringing back his blue eyed gaze to the girls staring at him in disbelief, he clenches his jaw tightly. The muscles near his ears move upon the force. 

"The world ends in eight days" He states, his voice filled with such an unwavering certainty, it brought chills down (y/n)'s spine ,"and I have no idea how to stop it."


	6. Doomsday

The warm ceramic mug grasped tightly in the (y/n) hands causes her soft palms to redden slightly. Slowly lifting the cup to her face, she inhales the strong aroma of the vanilla flavored coffee. The room falls into an uncomfortable silence, nothing but the faint sound of the vehicles outside rushing past the building, their headlights casting shadows upon Vanya's cream colored walls. Finally taking a sip of her the coffee Vanya had so graciously offered to her, (y/n) set down her mug and meets Five's analyzing gaze. 

"What did you-uh-" She has trouble finding the right words ,"-do? You know...After finding out the world ended."

"I survived off of scraps-" He takes a sip of his own coffee, chuckling darkly, "canned food, cockroaches, anything I could find. You know that rumor that Twinkies have an endless shelf life? It's total bullshit"

"I can't even imagine." Vanya leans forward, resting her elbows on top of her knees. (y/n) watches, her eyebrows raised in concern, as her brother only shrugs in response.

"You do whatever it takes to survive-" He pauses, a dark look in his eyes ,"-or you die. So we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it."

Upon hearing his words, Vanya and (y/n) glance over at each other, both of their eyes swirling with the same concerned curiosity. 

"Wait, I'm sorry-" (y/n) eyes her brother suspiciously ,"-'we'? I thought you said that there wasn't anybody else there..."

He ignores the question, lifting up his now empty mug and turning to Vanya

"You got anything stronger?"

"I have some Hennessy?" 

"Go fetch it, will you?" 

Hesitating slightly, Vanya stands up from her spot and collects the mugs sitting at the table. She leaves the living room. With the two alone, Vanya setting up drinks in the kitchen, Five clears his throat lightly when he notices (y/n)'s worried glance.

"Stop looking at me like that" He demands softly, avoiding her gaze. 

"Like what?" 

"Like you're worried about me"

"Five, I think that's kind of unfair" (y/n) defends, her voice tired from the overwhelming information she's had to process tonight ,"The things you're saying, they're a lot to take in. Of course I'm going to be worried about you.

"We both are, Five" Vanya adds, handing him a glass filled to the middle with the strong smelling amber liquid. Taking it into his own hands, the two watch as he takes a long swig of the drink. If she wasn't so exhausted and serious right now, (y/n) probably would have laughed at the sight. 

"Five, are you okay?" Vanya asks hesitantly. (y/n) watches as the boy looks up from his drink, furrowing his eyebrows slightly before chuckling bitterly

"You guy's think I'm crazy, don't you?" It's less of a question and more of an accusation, his voice sounding almost hurt when he looks in between the concerned eyes of his sisters. 

"No, i-it's just-" Vanya stammers, sighing quietly before continuing ,"It's a lot to process right now-"

"Exactly what don't you understand?" he interrupts, frustration clear in his voice

"Why didn't you just time travel back?" 

"Gee, wish I'd thought of that!" Five answers sarcastically, rolling his eyes , "Time travel is a crap shoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed. You think I didn't try everything to get back to my family?"

"Five-" (y/n) quickly intervenes upon hearing the hurt lacing his low voice ,"You know she didn't mean it like that. Please be patient with us, we're just trying to understand."

"Fine, what do you need help understanding?" Although he complies, she can still hear the frustrating in his voice. It was different this time around though, (y/n) could see that he really was trying. Vanya takes a moment to think before crossing her arms across her chest.

"If you grew old there, you know, in the apocalypse" She looks Five up and down, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion ,"how come you still look like a kid?"

"I told you already" He scoffs, moving past the two to place his empty glass onto the counter, swiftly pouring himself another drink ,"I must have got the equations wrong."

"I mean, dad always used to say that time travel could..." Vanya glances over at (y/n) almost as if asking to back her up on what she's about to say ,"mess up your mind. Well, maybe that's what's happening?"

"This was a mistake..." He chugs down the drink, mumbling to himself before breezing past the two girls staring at his form with wide eyes ,"I thought you guys would understand, but it's clear to me now that I have to do this by myself"

"Five!" (y/n) is the first to break free of her frozen state, calling the boys name desperately as he stop just before opening the door ,"Five, don't you dare walk out on us now!"

Sighing, he turns so that hes just barely facing the girls. His side profile sharp underneath the yellow light, (y/n) watches his frustrated form intensely as he clenches his jaw. Taking a couple steps forward, she places a gently hand onto the boys upper arm

"Five, please" Her voice is quiet, "We just got you back."

"We haven't seen you in a long time and we don't want to lose you again, that's all" Vanya adds, hazel eyes begging the boy to stay. A sigh of relief escapes (y/n)'s lips when his hand removes itself from the metal doorknob.

"it's getting late, okay?" Vanya continues, moving over to stand by the couch ,"I have lessons early, and I need to sleep, and I'm sure you do too."

Grabbing a hold of a soft grey blanket draped over the back frame of the couch, she swiftly throws it over the cushions, creating a makeshift bed for him to sleep on. Gently coaxing him forward, (y/n) watches the scene fondly, a relieved smile gracing her lips when she sees Five awkwardly sink down into the sofa.

"We'll talk about this in the morning, okay? I promise" Vanya steps away to let him settle in. (y/n), seeing this as her cue to leave, walks over to stand next to Vanya.

"I'm going to head out, clear my head a little bit." She sighs, running a head through her (h/c) locks ,"It was nice to see you again. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure thing, (y/n). Night" She bids the two siblings goodnight before stepping into her own room, closing the door behind her. Turning around, she faces Five still sitting awkwardly on the edge of the couch cushion. He seems lost in his own thoughts, his face a slight scowl.

"Hey" She calls out to him softly ,"I'm glad that you felt comfortable enough to talk to us about this. I want you to know that I meant what I said before. I'm here for you, okay? Whatever you're going through or whatever you have to do...You don't have to do it alone."

"I appreciate that, Ghostie" His small frown quirks up into a slight smirk, teasing her with the dumb nickname. Upon seeing the comforting sight, she returns a kind smile before letting herself out of the apartment. Shutting the door behind herself, she finds her heart ache slightly. 

"8 days..." She whispers. If what Five had said was true, if he meant every single word he said, then that meant that the world was going to end. The thought sends shivers down her spine. In a singular day, the world she grew to love seemed to be ripping away at it's seems. It was falling apart. Everything she knew and love was going to be gone. How do you go about living life after that?

"You find a way to survive" Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she takes confident strides down the dimly lit hallway, her face lit with a new found determination. (y/n) thinks about her family. A group of mentally unstable, off brand, superheroes who spent their lives running away from each other. She knows now that they have to stop running away. Family, found or not, is all you have. Whatever happens is going to happen. And she was going to try her damnedest to make sure her family makes it out okay because she isn't about to let herself lose any of them ever again.


	7. Can We Go Back to Normal?

Intricately designed street lamps line the empty sidewalk, their fluorescent glow illuminating the cracked concrete. In between each section, moss and weeds make their way through the ground, defiant as always as they seemingly reach up to the night sky. (y/n)'s soft footsteps lightly echo into the darkness as she leisurely strolls towards the college campus. Shoving gloved hands into her coat pockets, her warm breath coming out as a light fog, she quickly pulls out her key card to scan at the door

"Hey, Gerard" She greets the man sitting behind the college check in counter, smiling lightly at the way he's made himself comfortable in his seat

"Evening, (y/n)" He responds lazily, propping up his legs onto the marbled surface of the desk. (y/n) chuckles lightly at the sight, knowing he must be tired having to do all of these night shifts lately. Peeking at the modern looking clock hugging the wall above the man, she raises her eyebrows in surprise at the time. 

"Long night, huh?" She tries to make friendly conversation. 

"Too long, but hey-" He raises a teasing eyebrow in her direction ,"-who else is gonna let delinquents like you back in at this time?"

"Ha Ha" She replies sarcastically, making her way over to the grey elevator doors and pressing gently onto the button ,"Very funny, Gerard."

Once the doors finally glide open, she waves a quick goodbye to the security guard practically already asleep in his chair, and steps inside. The ride takes only a few seconds, the metal doors sliding back open once she reaches the third floor of the dormitories. Biting her gloves off and holding them in her lips, she uses her now exposed hands to fish out the keys to her own room. Scrounging around in her pockets as she finally stops in front of the light colored wood door to her dorm, her eyes widen suddenly

"Shit!" The exclamation comes out muffled through the gloves still being held in her mouth. Quickly shoving the soft fabric into the back of her jeans, she starts to look through her coat pockets at a more panicked pace.

"No, No, No" She whispers, frustration lacing her hissed words ,"This can't be happening!" 

Finally giving up her frantic search, she figures out another plan of attack. Theresa. Raising a closed fist to the light colored door, she knocks loud enough to know that her roommate should be able to hear even if she were asleep. Waiting at least an entire minute, (y/n) decides that her growing exhaustion is too much for her. Glancing down each end of the seemingly endless yellow hallways, she takes a few deep breaths 

"You better be blacked out or gone, Theresa" She lets out a frustrated huff before holding her breath. Feeling a slight tingle surge throughout her entire body, she reaches out a hand and smiles at the sight of it completely disappearing behind the closed door. She wasn't as rusty as she thought she was. Stepping forward, she lets her body slide through the light wood, letting go of her breath the second she's fully inside of her own room. 

"Still got it, baby" She chuckles lightly. Running a soft hand through her (h/c) locks, she quickly scans the area, making sure that her theory was correct. Empty bed, empty chairs, empty bathroom. Her roommate was gone like usual. Tossing her bag and her jacket onto her creaky metal framed bed, she lets out a tired sigh before sitting at her desk. She opens up her laptop

"My father died and you're assigning me extra work?" She grumbles, clicking onto her emails and skimming through the messages her professors had sent while she was taking the day off ,"the american education system, how wonderful"

Clicking out of her email tab and opening up the google homepage, she notices an alert that's popped up near the bottom. Squinting slightly to look at it, her eyebrows raise in shock at the story being presented before her: A Dozen Men Found Dead in Local Diner After Massive Shoot Out. Reading the story, she finds herself scoffing in disbelief. Suddenly, she recalls Number 5 coming to her covered in blood. Shaking her head, she convinces herself it was just a coincidence.

"No way, (y/n)"

Exiting out of that tab as well, no longer interested in distracting herself from her own thoughts, she looks down at the digital clock resting on the nearly empty desk. 3 am. If she was going to be able to get back to her classes tomorrow to at least try and catch up with the ungodly amount of work that piled up after just a single day, then she needed to at least take a nap. With her first class starting at 6 am, 3 hours seemed like good enough to her. Laying down onto her firm mattress, not even bothering to change out of her funeral clothes, she pulls the comforter up to her shoulders and finds herself out like a light as soon as her head sinks into her pillow

\-------2 hours later---------

Buzzing. Continuous buzzing. The light vibrations of her phone shake the desk slightly. The girl, stirring from her sleep, reaches a lazy hand over to the mobile device and grasps onto it. The buzzing tickles her soft skin waking her up just enough for one of her (e/c) eyes to flutter open. Not bothering to check who the caller must have been, she clicks the answer button

"Hello?" She answers groggily, using her free hand to roughly rub at her tired eyes. 

"(y/n), you need to come down here right now" Gerard's annoyed tone sizzles on the other end. Upon hearing the frustration in his words, she quickly bolts up from her bed, her blankets falling into a messy heap on the wooden floorboards

"What? Why?" 

"Some punk kid wants to see you" He grumbles

"Punk kid?" She echoes quietly ,"I'll be down in a second, just let me put some clothes on"

Hastily yanking off her formal sweater and pants, hopping around on one foot and face planting when she gets stuck, she quickly recovers and throws on some baggy sweat pants and a worn out long sleeve. Pulling on some beat up sneakers and a hoodie, she uses her powers to quickly rush out of the closed door to not waste any more time locking it behind her. Running a hand through her slightly tangled (h/c) locks, she waits in the elevator as it makes it's decent. 

"(y/n)" Gerard whines, the bags under his eyes evident under the fluorescent lights ,"please tell me you know who this is"

"Hey, sis" Standing a few feet away, hands tucked cockily into his pants pockets, Five smirks lightly. (y/n), crosses her arms over her chest, and motions towards the younger looking boy

"Gerard, this is my brother" She explains quickly, taking a few strides forward until she's grasping at his coat sleeve and tugging him lightly towards the exit ,"we're going to have a chat outside."

Still tugging onto his navy sleeve, pushing open the glass doors, she leads him to the side so that Gerard can't watch them converse. 

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay with Vanya, Five"

"So, college, huh?" He completely ignores the question, hand fiddling around with something in his pocket. Glancing down, noticing the movement, she crosses her arms across her chest.

"I wanted a normal life after I left" 

"What if you can't have that normal life?"

"What?" Her eyebrows furrow at his response, watching as his face grows serious, the muscles in his jaw tensing up slightly as his steel eyes avoid her gaze

"(y/n)-" he begins, still avoiding her (e/c) eyes filling with worry ,"-There isn't going to be a 'normal life' for you to live next week. That's why I need your help"

"Five-" She's interrupted when he suddenly yanks out the thing that he was messing around with in his pocket. Her eyes widen at the sight ,"...is that an....Eyeball?"

"Prosthetic" He corrects quickly before continuing ,"This is what's going to change the future. This is whats going to ensure that you get to live your white picket fence dream, but only if you help me"

Staring down at the prosthetic eye being held in between his pale fingers, she finds her heart begin to beat faster in her chest. The glistening surface of it almost glows in his hand underneath the lamp hanging loosely above them. This was what was going to save the world she's grown to love? Shifting her gaze up to meet his intense blue eyes, she sees the glimmer of hope behind his stoic facade. He was serious 

"Why me, Five? Why do you need my help?"

"Because you care, (y/n), and because you said that I didn't have to do this alone" His voice grows soft when he meets her eyes, but quickly reverts back to his usually confident gaze. He clears his throat awkwardly ,"and your-ah-powers are-uh-useful"

Chuckling lightly at his sad attempt to cover up his vulnerability, she takes in a deep breath. Letting her gaze turn up towards the sky, she finds her lips turning up into a small smile at the way the glowing white moon begins to fade into the lightening morning sky. She loved the moon, always finding comfort in it's calm light. Taking a moment to think, she finds herself piling up a list of things she also loves in this sad world. The biggest being her family. That determination she had felt earlier when thinking about stopping the apocalypse to have the chance to be a family again only grew in intensity at her brothers awkward attempt at asking for help. As cruel as it may have treated her in the past, she knew that there was no way in hell she was going to pass up the opportunity to save this pitiful planet. Turning her gaze back onto her brother waiting patiently for her answer, she smiles gently

"If I help you" She begins "we'll be able to save the world and live normal lives afterwords?"

"As normal as our dysfunctional family can get"

"Okay" She finally confirms, sighing ,"I'll help"


	8. Team of Psychos

"Oh, thank god..." Vanya's fragile voice comes out as a relieved sigh, body leaning itself tiredly against the door frame of Five's old room as her light eyed gaze lands on the boy's small form near the window. Five slowly turns to face his sister, a tight lipped smile barely pulling at his lips as he acknowledged her presence. Moving closer to him, Vanya wraps her arms around her torso, almost as if trying to comfort her anxiety ridden body

"I was worried sick about you" She adds quietly

"Sorry I left without saying goodbye" Five replies, pouring as much sincerity he can into his monotone voice. Vanya is quick to shake her head, dismissing his apology

"No, look, I'm the one that should be sorry-" Vanya states sadly, continuing with a sigh ,"-I was dismissive and I-I guess I didn't know how to process what you were saying...I still can't, to be honest"

"Maybe you were right to be dismissive" Five replies with a scoff, shoving his hands into his pockets ,"Maybe it wasn't real after all...It felt real, but, like you said, the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind"

"Then maybe I'm not the right person for you to be talking to. Look, I used to see someone...a therapist. I could give you her information?" Vanya suggests gently, but Five is quick to interrupt her, not enjoying the idea of opening up to a stranger about his issues.

"Thanks, but-" He motions over to the small bed frame near the fogged window, light blue duvet spread neatly across the mattress ,"-I think I'm just gonna get some rest. It's been a long time since I've had a good sleep."

Nodding slowly, Vanya bids the boy a gentle goodbye before heading out of his room, footsteps light against the wood floors and grower fainter by the second. As soon as the hallways are bathed in a calming silence, the doors to Five's closet swing open suddenly. (y/n) and Klaus come tumbling out of their wooden prison, bodies tangled in a mess of navy blue fabric as they both land onto the cool floor below. Klaus, the first to clumsily stand up onto his own feet again, dramatically presses his hands into his chest

"That's so..." he sighs dreamily, wiping his cheeks of the fake tears escaping his eyes ,"...touching, all that stuff about family and Dad and time. Wow!"

"Would you shut up? She'll hear you!" Five hisses, watching as Klaus bends down to gently help up their sister, dusting off her clothes as she stands

"I'm moist" Klaus teases through goofy smile. Silently scanning his siblings forms, (y/n) notes the frustration making its way across Five's face

"I told you to put on something professional" Five grumbles lightly, motioning towards Klaus's floral print button up with sleeves like a clown's. The brother seemed hurt by Five's accusation, light colored eyes resembling that of a beaten dog when he meets (y/n)'s gaze for help

"This is my nicest outfit..." He whines softly before turning to (y/n) again ,"Does this not look nice?"

"You look beautiful, Klaus-" (y/n) reassures him gently ,"-but I think it'd be best if we went with something simpler"

"We'll raid the old mans closet" Five rolls his eyes at the girl, smaller framed body turning to leave the room. The pair are quick to follow after him

"Whatever, as long as I get paid" Klaus sighs, tossing a wink to the girl walking beside him. 

"When the job is done" Five states, voice laced with annoyance. 

"Okay, but just so we're clear on the finer details-" Klaus decides to mess with Five some more, (y/n) having to hold in her laugh when he begins to dramatically wave his hands around to further his points ,"-we just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your parents, correct?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

"What's our cover story?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean, were we really young when we had you?" Klaus asks, wrapping an arm around (y/n)'s shoulder to pull her closer to his body as he continues to paint his strange story ,"Like, 16? Like, young and...terribly misguided?"

"Sure" Five sighs, the slight turn of the corners of his lips the only indications that he was at least somewhat enjoying this.

"Your mother, played by our adorable little Ghostie!-" Klaus takes this moment to ruffle her hair, smiling to himself as he continues to flush out his own little universe ,"-was working at a whorehouse before we met at the...disco!"

"What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain" Five sighs

"Don't make me put you in time out, young man"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Like I said to your son earlier-" The man sitting behind his pristine desk folds his hand smugly beneath his chin ,"-any information about the prosthetic's we build is strictly confidential. Without the client's consent, I simply can't help you."

"Well, we can't get consent if you don't give us a name" Five grumbles out in frustration, (y/n) catching his coat sleeve to keep him from striding forward to take a more violent approach. The physician leans back into his office chair, a tight lipped smile making it way across his face

"That's not my problem. Sorry, kid. There's really nothing more I can do, so-"

" And what about my consent?" Klaus suddenly speaks up, nose scrunching up as he directs the question towards the man staring at his quizzically

"Excuse me?"

"Who gave you permission..." Klaus, pointing his fingers towards the pair seated next to him, makes himself sound as if he were chocked up ,"...to lay your hands...on my son?"

"What?" All of their voices are one, each person's mind drawing a blank as they try to figure out what's going on

"You heard me" he replies, unfazed by their confused faces. 

"I didn't touch your son" The man behind the desk states plainly, voice unwavering. Klaus scoffs lightly, standing from his seat without taking his eyes off of the physician

"Oh, really?" He challenges ,"Well, then how did he get that swollen lip?"

"He doesn't have a swollen-"

Before the man is able to let the words fully pass his lips, Klaus's fist violently introduces itself to Five's mouth. Knuckles smashing into the smaller boys jaw, Five stumbles slightly from the impact as Klaus turns back towards the man with a sickeningly sweet smile plastered across his face

"What is wrong with you?" The man cries out, horrified by the event that just took place. Klaus is quick to counter

"What's wrong with me? Whats wrong with you!" He yells back, dramatically motioning to (y/n) still seated beside him ,"You're the one who smashed my wife's face into your desk, sicko!"

"I never-"

Rolling her eyes upon seeing Klaus wink at her, (y/n) gets the hint. Squinting her eyes shut, making a mental note to punch her brother later, the girl slams her head into the man's cool wooden desk. A sickening crack echoes throughout the room as she groans out in pain, nose and forehead throbbing. Slowly lifting her head from the wooden surface, (y/n) meets the frightened mans gaze, scarlet colored blood now pouring from her nostrils. Holding out her hand, she let's the warm liquid pool in her palm, careful to breath from her mouth now as she smiles lightly

"So-" she chuckles, blood smearing across her teeth ,"-we're gonna get that name now, right?"

"You're all crazy" the man chokes out quietly, hands shaking slightly

"You got no idea, sweetheart" Klaus giggles, light eyes suddenly snapping down to gaze upon a snow globe at the edge of the man's desk ,"'Peace on Earth.' That's so sweet"

Before anybody is able to respond, the disheveled man firmly grasps the globe into his hands and smashes the entire glass top into his head. The snow globe shatters, glass shards sinking themselves into Klaus's scalp as a mess of glitter filled water splatters across the room. He groans loudly, hands roughly wiping at the stream of blood making its way down his face, small pieces of snowflake shaped plastic being carried with it

"God, that hurt!" he exclaims through a pained smile. The three injured siblings watch as the man frantically grabs at the phone on his desk, messily trying to dial the number for his security. Just as he's about to speak to the people on the other end of the line, Klaus reaches over and snatches the phone with his bloodied hands

"There's been an assault!" He cries into the speaker ,"In Mr.Big's office, and we need security, now. Schnell!"

He throws the phone back onto the receiver, effectively ending the concerning call with a tired sigh. Five and (y/n) share an impressed glance as they watch Klaus threateningly leans forward on the mans desk, blood dripping onto it's cool surface as it continues it's steady path down the brothers face

"Now, here's what's gonna happen, Grant"

"It's...Lance"

"In about 60 seconds, two security guards are gonna burst through that door, and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood-" He reaches over to (y/n), grabbing onto the blood filled hand she was holding beneath her nose and flipping it so that's the crimson liquid splatters across his white colored office ,"-and they're gonna wonder, 'What the hell happened?' and we're gonna tell them that you...beat the shit out of us!"

He stands from his leaning position, sobbing dramatically before quickly replacing his hurt expression with a smile. Lance's eyes widen upon the sight, hands shaking against his arm rests

"You're gonna do great in prison, Grant. Trust me, I've been there" Klaus teases, smile never leaving his stubbled face as he continues, "Little piece of chicken like you? Oh, my god, you're gonna get passed around like a...You're gonna do great, that's all I'm saying."

"Jesus, you're a real sick bastard"

"Thank you"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, this is not good..." Five grumbles in frustration, hand roughly smoothing back his jet black hair as he walks out of the building. (y/n) and Klaus, following behind the smaller boy, messily tend to their bleeding wounds

"I was pretty good, though, right?" Klaus asks, puppy like eyes glances to both the siblings as he wipes the blood from his eyes. (y/n) chuckles lightly, smiling through the blood pouring from her nostrils

"I would've liked for it to involve less violence, but I gotta say...It did the trick" 

"For what it's worth, Ghostie, you look badass with a bloody nose-"

"Guys, none of that matters!" Five suddenly shouts to the pair behind him, his face a deep scowl as he stares them down. (y/n), understanding his frustration, tries to approach him gently

"Five, there's nothing else we could've done. Maybe we just need to...wait a little longer?"

"We don't have any time to wait, (y/n)!" He roars in response, the anger he felt finally boiling over. 

"Hey! Don't yell at her!" Klaus is quick to defend (y/n), knowing her sensitivity when it came to people raising their voices at her, and shields her body behind his protectively on instinct ,"What's the big deal with this eye, anyway?"

"There is someone out there who is going to lose an eye in the next seven days." Five explains through clenched teeth, "They're gonna bring about the end of life on this Earth as we know it."

"Well, how about we all just calm down and get something to eat, yeah?" Klaus tries to deescalate the situation. Five's eyebrows furrow in annoyance

"The apocalypse is coming and all you can think about is eating?" 

"You're useless" 

"Five, please, Klaus is right-" (y/n)'s voice is soft as she speaks, trying her best to get him to understand ,"-the eye is a dead end, there's nothing we can do about the apocalypse right now"

"Nothing you guys can do..." He mumbles to himself

"Five, don't do what I think you're going to do" She warns gently, already seeing the wheels turning in the small boys head

"What's he going to do-?" Just as the question leave's Klaus's lips, their brother disappears through a bright glow of blue light without another word. The pair are left alone on the concrete, (y/n) squeezing her eyes shut in frustration

"...That..."


	9. Family Vote

"The novel's plot is not nearly as complex as the linguistic tactics employed by Joyce. He combined a number of languages and utilized complex sonic to create an atmosphere of wordplay and hidden meaning throughout the entirety of Finnegans Wake-" 

The soft pads of (y/n)'s fingers gently tap against the black key's of her keyboard, nails barely grazing the smooth surface of her laptop, as she messily types out notes from her early morning lecture. Her (e/c) eyes never leave her professors form as he paces around on his stage, carefully listening to every word leaving his lips. Taking a quick sip of the, now cold, cup of coffee she bought at the cafe just before running here, she continues to try to focus on the voice echoing against the foam padded walls around her. The only thing is, when you know the world is ending in a few days, it's hard to concentrate on something as meaningless as "Finnegans Wake"

"Particularly notable are his "thunder words," words approximately one hundred letters that combine numerous languages. As he had in an earlier work, 1922, Joyce drew upon an encyclopaedic range of literary works. His polyglot of puns and portmanteau words was intended to convey the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious while interweaving and with the languages and mythologies of many other-"

The professor is suddenly interrupted by the sudden thundering crash of the door swinging open, wood splintering at the hinges as the metal doorknob finds a new home in the wall behind it. (y/n), following the sound, finds herself furrowing her eyebrows at the sight she sees. There, standing awkwardly with his gloved hand on the edge of the wood frame, was Luther. The professor, upon seeing the massive man, stutter out his protests pathetically

"E-Excuse me, but I need you to leave-" 

"We're looking for (y/n)" Five strolls into the room with a smug look on his sharp features, hands stuffed into his pockets as he stares down the fuming professor. Before the scruffy man is able to say anything, Klaus is suddenly barging in after the smaller boy, fur coat barely hanging onto his naked torso as he stumbles onto the small stage. (y/n), shrinking down in her seat upon hearing the amused whispers from the people around her, tries to hide behind her open laptop. Unfortunately for her, Klaus has good eyesight

"Ghostie!" He calls out the nickname fondly, tattooed hands extended in her direction as he smiles goofily. Five and Luther, following their brothers gaze, find the sister they've been looking for. 

"(y/n), we need to go" Five states, smirking slightly at the embarrassed look on the girls face. She refuses to respond, praying to whatever higher power is out there that they'll just give up and leave her alone. Sadly, that's not the case.

"Don't ignore us, (y/n)" Luther demands, usual leader like authority clear in his deep voice. She continues to stay silent, narrowed (e/c) eyes filled with a deep frustration as she meets their gaze. Luther sighs. Taking confident strides up the steps of the lecture hall, body moving towards her row, the massive man mumbles out apologies as he quickly makes his way over to her seat

"Luther, please, just go-" she begs him through a whisper, glancing at the concerned faces of her peers as he stands beside her. 

"We're having a family meeting-" Luther interrupts, closing her laptop, "-and that includes you, (y/n). It's important"

"Can't it wait?" She hisses in response. Luther opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by the clearing of the professors throat, lips pressed up against the microphone at his podium as he glares down the large framed man

"I'm only going to ask one more time...Leave my lecture hall or else I will have security remove you"

"No need-" Luther suddenly throws the smaller girl over his shoulder, smiling politely as (y/n) loudly protests against his back, "-we were just leaving"

Easily holding onto the girl as she struggles against him, Luther strides down the carpeted steps and makes his way out of the large room, Five and Klaus quickly following after him. Once they're far enough away from the lecture hall, (y/n) holds her breath. Her form becomes intangible, body phasing through Luther's as she swings forward to land on her feet beside Klaus. 

"I forgot you could do that..." Luther sighs, turning to meet the fuming girl behind him

"What the hell is so important that it couldn't wait until after my lecture? The one I'm paying every minute for, by the way" She huffs out in frustration. Five rolls his eyes

"Everything is more important than your college education"

"Can it, Bite-Size-" she warns, sending a hard glare his way, "-I'm still mad at you"

"Woah, Ghostie-" Klaus chuckles, throwing an arm around her shoulders, "-I'm really digging this new fiery side!"

"Look, (y/n)-" Luther sighs, sincerity in his light blue eyes as he continues, "-when I said this family meeting was important, I meant it. We need everybody home now"

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" (y/n)'s forms tenses upon hearing the urgency in his voice, worry replacing the annoyance she felt only moments ago. 

"It's Mom" 

"What about Mom?"

"We think she may have had something to do with...Dad's death"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With her arms folded against her sweater clad chest, (y/n) sits on the edge of a golden bar stool, Klaus's head resting on top of her soft thighs as he spreads his body out onto the other seats beside her. (e/c) eyes focused on the small television set up on the black marble counter before the group of siblings, she watches as the sizzle of the glowing screen reveals their fathers room. Laying on his bed was the man himself, body convulsing violently as he gripped helplessly at his own throat. Standing only a foot away was their mother, hands clasped together elegantly as she watched their father die. Her face showed now emotion as the life left the mans eyes. Vanya sighs tiredly, crossing her arms against her chest 

"I mean-" She begins hesitantly, voice soft as she continues, "-do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?"

"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya-" Luther argues, his baby blue eyes never leaving the screen as he speaks, "-maybe you don't know Grace anymore"

"If he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner's report" Diego huffs out in frustration, sharp blade dancing along his fingers as he paces the room anxiously. (y/n) knew he couldn't be taking this well. Mom was the man's everything. It could only be expected of him to defend the artificial woman. 

"Well, I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes" Luther argues again, passionately motioning towards the glowing screen in front of them. Diego smirks, rolling his eyes

"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision-"

"Wait a second..." (y/n)'s voice, although soft, demands the silence of the room suddenly. The group all turn to watch as the smaller framed girl narrows her (e/c) eyes at the crackling screen. Hopping down from her stool, beat-up kicks padding lightly against the marble floors, she makes her way to the front of the group. Taking a stand just beside the small television, she lightly clicks onto the rewind button

"Mom didn't poison him-" She announces, using the soft pads of her finger to direct their attention to the video replaying, "-she was there when he died, but she didn't do it."

"How do you know?" Luther asks, voice laced in annoyance as he crosses his arms over his chest. (y/n) sighs, shrugging lightly

"I'm a good observer" the girl then replays the video again, finger pointing back towards the spot she tried to get them to see the first time. The group of siblings watch, focus sharp this time around as they try to make out what she was referring to. There, on screen, was the image of their Mother. Bending down, the woman reaches out a gentle hand, fingers grasping onto their father's monocle before standing back up again. The eyeglass still secure in her palm. 

"Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle's gone..." Diego speaks the actions of their mother, smugly walking away from the group to stand near the back, "She wasn't poisoning him. She was...taking it to clean it or something."

"Then where is it?" Luther asks, almost in disbelief, "No, I've searched the house, including all her things. She doesn't have it."

There's a long pause that hangs in the air between the siblings, (y/n) finding herself turning to Diego. The scruffy looking man stands silent, eyes avoiding their gazes as he fiddles around with the silver blade in his fingers, before he's clearing his throat quietly

"That's because I took it from her...after the funeral"

"You've had the monocle this whole time?" Allison scolds the man, eyebrows furrowing as she continues, "What the hell, Diego?"

"Give it to me" Luther suddenly demands

"I threw it away" Diego smugly replies, (y/n) finding herself retreating back to her stool next to Klaus to find comfort as the room is suffocated in the growing tension between the pair

"You what?"

"Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit-" Diego takes dangerous steps forward, silver blade pointing threateningly towards Luther, "-just like you're doing right now."

"Diego, you son of a bitch-"

"Hey. No. Calm down" Vanya is suddenly standing between the two massive men, tired eyes glancing nervously between them as she crosses her arms, "Look, I know Dad wasn't exactly an open book, but I do remember one thing he said. Mom was designed to be a caretaker, but also a protector"

"What does that mean?" Allison asks, body leaning against the back frame of the couch. 

"She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy" Vanya explains softly, the group all carefully taking in her words. 

"Well, if her hardware is degrading, then..." Luther glances worriedly towards his siblings, hesitant to continue, "...we need to turn her off."

"She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet!" Diego is quick to defend the woman, his love for their mother evident in the vulnerability of his voice, "She feels things, I've seen it!"

"She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die"

"I'm with Luther" Allison announces, sipping on her small glass of whiskey. This only seems to only add fire to the fuel for Diego

"Surprise, surprise" He chuckles bitterly

"Shut up."

Luther and Diego suddenly turn towards Vanya, eyes intense as they watch her expectantly. The girl seems to shake beneath the pressure, hands wringing the hem of her button down shirt as she tries to gulp down the lump in her throat. 

"I-I don't-"

"Yeah, she shouldn't get a vote" Diego states plainly, but Vanya is quick to speak up again

"I was gonna say that I-I agree with you" 

"Okay!" Diego smiles smugly, "She should get a vote! What about you, stoner boy? What do you got?"

Klaus chuckles bitterly, head nuzzling further into (y/n)'s thighs as if he were trying to hide from the group. 

"Oh, so, what? You need my help now?" He directs the question to the pair of men beside him, waiting impatiently for his answer as he takes a long drag of his cigarette, "Screw you both, you're not getting my vote."

Without saying anything else to the pair, he dramatically turns over so his face is now buried in (y/n)'s stomach, the brother officially checking himself out of this meeting. (y/n), instinctively running her soft fingers through his hair to comfort him in the way she used to when they were kids, finds herself glancing up to meet the expectant gazes of Luther and Diego. She sighs.

"When Mom had to deal with a bunch of shitty little kids, too destructive for their own good, she helped them get better. I don't see why we can't try to return the favor...I'm with Diego"

"(y/n), Mom could be a danger to us all!" Luther tries to reason with her, but she shakes her head sadly

"I'm not sacrificing her for a 'could', Luther" She fires back, voice still gentle as she's too tired to argue with the man. Diego, happily accepting her answer, cockily holds up three of his gloved fingers

"I believe that's three-"

"Wait-"

"-To two"

"Vote's not final yet" Allison states casually, taking another long swig of her drink. Diego, frustrated that his little bragging party has been postponed, turns to face the woman with a glare

"What?"

"Five's not here" She explains quickly, "The whole family has to vote. We owe each other that."

"Wait-"

"We'll wait until he gets back and decide then, alight?"

"Sounds good to me"

Luther and Allison, seemingly having a conversation by themselves, decide that the family meeting is over. They leave as a pair, bodies exiting through the golden archway of the living room before disappearing in the darkness of the hallway. Vanya, follows after them shortly, while (y/n) and Klaus stay behind. Diego stands silent in the middle of the room, hands clenching tightly at his sides. (y/n), sensing the man's anger, sighs lightly

"Are you going to be okay, Diego-?" Before she's able to let the words fully pass her lips, the man is suddenly storming out of the living room, black clad body making confident strides towards their Mother's usual resting place. 

"What a fucked up family we are, huh?" Klaus's voice comes out muffled as he speaks into her sweater.

"Fucked up or not-" (y/n) chuckles lightly, fingers still running themselves through his curly brown locks, "-I don't think I would ask for anything different..."

"You know what?" a tired smile makes its way across her soft features upon hearing the playful tone of Klaus's voice

"Me neither"


	10. Masked Intruders

-A Few Hours Later-

Gunshots. Skull cracking as they ripped through the still night air, filling the empty spaces with their ear-splitting bang. (y/n)'s (e/c) fly open, body jolting awake from the nap she desperately needed. Soft hands grasp at her childhood comforter, fingers digging into the baby blue fabric as she pushed herself off of her mattress. The hallways echoed with the chilling explosions, bright flashes of yellow light casting haunting shadows upon the walls outside of her open door. The blood in her veins begin to race through her body with a fiery intensity . Father's words ring in the black abyss of her mind

"Don't be useless, Number 8..." Mumbled phrase passes her lips as an urgent command, body instinctively rising from her spot. She was rusty, but she would never allow herself to be helpless. (y/n), heart beating against her rib cage as if threatening to break free, sprints out into the empty hallways, ears trained on the seemingly endless fire of bullets ricocheting off of the golden pillars towering above the main living area. Making her way to the edge of the balcony, peering over the edge to see two masked figures as they paint the room in their life-threatening shots, furniture fluff ripped from the seams and sent flying through the air as they shoot. Suddenly, Luther, massive figure creeping through the shadows behind the equally large masked form, reaches out and grabs a rough hold onto the intruder. The man goes stumbling backwards, body just beneath the girl standing on the balcony. 

"Here goes nothing..." She huffs out the words nervously before she's holding her breath. Her body sinks through the concrete ledge, small form falling towards the masked man still oblivious to her presence. She let's her breath go. Body no longer intangible, (y/n) skillfully wraps her thighs around the intruders neck, locking her calves together to throw the man down to the ground using the momentum of her fall to her advantage. The beast crashes down onto the marble floor, (y/n) rolling off just before she's crushed. Unfortunately for her, the bears partner is waiting above her with the barrel of her gun aimed straight at (y/n)'s head

"Lights out, Ghost!" Allison is able to warn the girl just in time, yelling out the code the group used for her as kids. Sucking in a trembling breath, lungs aching at the sudden deprivation of air, (y/n) curls up into herself as an explosive rain of bullets fly through her intangible form. Diego, seeing the sight, rushes to the girls aid, body flying through the air to land a hard kick to the masked woman's side. She goes flying into the other room, landing hard against the marble next to her partner. (y/n) gasps for air

"Atta girl-" Diego pulls (y/n) up to her feet, gloved hand grasping at her sweater to pull her further away from the masked pair still recovering from the fight in the other room, "You alright, (y/n)?"

"Peachy-" She replies with a tired smile, chest rising and falling as she tries to calm her erratically beating heart, "-you?"

"Super"

"Who the hell are those guys?" Allison and Luther run up to join the pair standing near the back of the living room, eyes frantically searching theirs as they catch their breath. 

"People who are apparently not very happy with us..." (y/n) jokes dryly, hands running themselves through her disheveled (h/c) locks.

"Why though? I don't remember ever pissing of a pair of trigger happy psychos-" Allison reply is suddenly cut off by a heart-stopping bang that tears through the air. The group all drop down to the ground, forms hiding behind one of the larger couches as bullets sink into the plush cushions.

"Doesn't matter who they are or where they come from-" Luther explains loudly over the deafening ringing filling the air, "-they're here and they're going to kill us if we don't do something about it"

"Then what're we going to do, hot-stuff?" Diego sarcastically replies, annoyance lacing his voice as he continues, "We'll look like swiss-fucking-cheese if we try to move from this spot"

"We can't just stay here either-"

"Guys!" (y/n) screams out, finally able to gain the groups attention, eyes watching her crouched form as she takes a quick peek from behind the couch, "I have a plan."

"What-?"

"I'm going to jump out there and act as a distraction while you three haul ass towards the basement. You'll have about 5 seconds to get a head start before they try and come after you-"

"I don't know if this is a good idea, You can't hold your breath forever, (y/n)..." Luther asks, genuine concern written across his face as he address her. She smiles nervously, (e/c) eyes glancing over the back frame of the couch for a moment to see the pair slowly beginning their move towards them

"That's why-" She chuckles anxiously, crouching body itching to move upon carefully watching the masked figure's reflection in the glass shards of the shattered cabinet ahead of them, "-I'm heading into the booking it to the kitchen. Figure there's a few things in there I could use as weapons."

"You're awful with weapons, (y/n)-" Diego replies through a raised eyebrow, "-you always have been."

"I'm hoping they're not going to follow me." 

"If they do?" Luther asks, worry evident in his voice

"Then it'll be a great opportunity for me to practice, right?" She throws a crooked smile towards the group, watching as they stare at her through concerned filled gazes

"(y/n), that's not-"

"Ready?"

"Wait-"

"Set!"

"(y/n), hold on-!"

"Go!"

Without waiting for a response, body running on a pure adrenaline, (y/n) leaps up from her hiding spot and sucks in as much oxygen as she can. Gunshots ring through her ears as their bullets rip through the almost ghost-like shimmer of her body. With their attention solely focused on the girl, blinding white flashes of light as they continue to fire, the three siblings make a mad dash towards the hallway. (y/n), watching their forms disappear through the darkened hall, books it towards the kitchen. Their gunfire finally ceases upon seeing her ghost-like figure leap through the golden archways. Luckily for her, the masked intruders don't follow after, smart enough to realize she was nothing but a distraction. 

"Shit..." Now able to finally catch a breath, body sprawled out across the cool kitchen tiles behind the marble island, a burning sensation begins a slow crawl up the length of thigh. (e/c) eyes peering down at her leg, she scrunches her nose up in pain at the scarlet colored rose blooming across her pants. A bullet must have lodged itself into her flesh during her room transition. Her father's words ring like alarms in her aching head. She was reckless. She was weak. She needed to be better. 

"'Better', my ass" She huffs out in frustration, snarkily arguing with her dead fathers voice as it lectured her endlessly in her mind. Using her weakened powers once more, she wills her body to become intangible, silver bullet falling through her torn flesh to the puddle of blood on the floor with a satisfying pitter. Yanking off her sweater, fiery pain beginning to grow in intensity as the adrenaline finally wore off, she messily rips one of the fuzzy sleeves from it's seams. Throwing the soft fabric around her thigh, she roughly ties the two ends together and pulls.

"Oh God!" She cries out pathetically, hands shaking as she tightens the fabric against the gushing wound.

"(y/n)-" Vanya's panicked voice suddenly fills the air, her small body rushing to the girls side, "-what the hell is going on?"

"Oh, you know-" (y/n) chuckles lightly, taking in labored breaths as she tiredly peers up through one squinted eye at her sister, "-just a couple of bad guys trying to turn us into Swiss cheese, the usual"

"Y-your leg-?"

"-is fine" (y/n) is quick to reassure the anxiety ridden sibling, hands reaching up to grasp onto the marble counters. Vanya, seeing her start to try and lift herself up with a shaking groan, rushes to her aid. Using her help, (y/n) is able to balance herself onto her good leg, steadying her aching body before she's throwing an arm over the girls shoulder

"Help me find the others, yeah?" She asks with a thankful smile, watching the girl nod before they're slowly making their way back into the living room. Sitting upon the destroyed furniture, glass shards and white fluff scattered across the wood floors, Allison and Diego rest their battered bodies. They hold damp towels against their faces, blood seeping into the soft white fabric as they gently dab at their wounds. Diego, noticing the limping girl using Vanya as a crutch, furrows his eyebrows

"How the hell did you manage to get shot?"

"Let's just say this ghost is a little rusty" She explains plainly with a tired chuckle, sinking her aching body down into a hole-ridden couch cushion, "Are the psychos gone?"

"Ran off." Allison answers, lightly rubbing at the tear in her lip with her moist towel

"Hopefully for good..." Vanya comments gently, but her voice only seems to agitate Diego strangely pacing around the room

"What are you still doing here?" He asks her suddenly, (y/n) noticing the way his dark eyes seem to glisten beneath the pale yellow light above. The way a persons eyes look after they've been crying. Vanya, obviously taken aback by his words, stutters slightly

"I-I'm just trying to help-"

"No, you could've been killed!" He barks back at her, vulnerability turning into rage when he continues darkly, "Or gotten any of us killed-"

"Diego-" (y/n) warns softly, but he ignores her, turning to Allison to speak in a low whisper

"She...is a liability" 

There's an uncomfortable silence that fills the tense air around the group, Vanya's light eyes misty as she glances towards her curly-haired sister before her. Allison avoids her gaze nervously, fidgeting with the damp towel in her lap

"Allison?" Vanya calls out to the sibling almost desperately. She slowly turns to finally meet her gaze

"I think what he's trying to say is that...this kind of stuff is dangerous. You're just-"

"Not like you?"

"That's not-"

Before Allison is able to try and fix her mistake, Vanya is quickly making her way out of the room, small form filled with hurt as she tries to escape. (y/n) wanted nothing more than to follow her, but she figures she'd want to be alone. she sighs, leaning back into her seat, heart aching for the hurting sister.

"Empathy" She states tiredly, arms reaching up to rest across her face. Diego and Allison turn to watch her through curious eyes

"What?"

"Empathy-" She repeats once more, word filled with deep meaning when they pass her soft lips, "-the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Otherwise known as the capacity to put oneself in another's position. Sometimes..."

"...I wonder if anybody in this family has it..."


	11. A Day with Five

“Hey, Five”

“Jesus Christ!” The boy exclaims through clenched teeth, body whipping around to face his sister as she casually leans up against the hood of the van he was driving, “(y/n)? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Weird...I was gonna ask you the exact same thing” She replies tiredly, extending out her hand to offer up the steaming cup of coffee she bought on the way here, “Take a walk with me?”

Five hesitantly reaches out to grab the thick paper cup, calloused hands wrapping around it’s warm surface as he stares through steely eyes at his sister. A benevolent smile pulled at her lips, comforting presence calming the anxious boy slightly. Her words from the day they were reunited ring in his mind. Maybe he really didn’t need to do this alone. Nodding silently, Five joins (y/n)’s side. They begin a leisurely stroll down the nearly empty sidewalk, grey sky glowing above. There’s a few minutes of complete silence that falls upon the pair before Five is glancing towards the girl, eyes moving down to watch as she tries to poorly cover a limp. He can make out the darkening red stain on her thigh

“Busy night?” He asks her casually, expertly hiding his concern. She smiles lightly, taking a small sip of her own cup of coffee before sighing

“That’s actually why I wanted to talk to you-” She begins, (e/c) eyes meeting his when she continues, “-Five, a couple of your friends came by the house last night. They weren’t very happy that you weren’t there.”

“Friends?” He echoes quietly, eyebrows furrowing slightly, “What did they look like?”

“Big guy and smaller lady, both wore creepy masks”

He doesn’t answer for a long time, as if in his own world as he thinks to himself, sharp features defined by the painted grey sky above. Taking a deep sip of his strong tasting beverage, he clears his throat sharply.

“Are you okay?”

“Woah, Five, you-” She chuckles lightly, an amused look making its way across her face, “worried about me? Never thought I’d see the day”

“Shut up and answer the question”

“I’m fine-” She reassures him quickly, nudging him lightly, “-but I’m not okay with you always ditching the family to save the world all by yourself, Five.”

“I’m not choosing to do this by myself, (y/n)-”

“You are when you refuse to talk to anybody...” She argues gently, stopping the boy on the sidewalk and pulling him to the side to allow others to walk past, “...Five, a few decades might have passed for you, but you’re still the same brother I lost all those years ago. The same one who’d leave stupid little trinkets at my door when you thought everybody was asleep”

“How’d you-?”

“I know you, old man-” (y/n) chuckles lightly at the poorly hidden embarrassment on his face as she continues, “-you’ve always been weird when it came to showing your family you cared...I also know that you loathe the idea of having to do things with help. It makes you feel weak.”

“You know-” he sighs tiredly, a small smile pulling at his sharp features, “-sometimes, I wish you were as thick-headed as our other siblings”

“Speaking of our other siblings…” She takes a sip of her coffee, motioning back towards where she came from, “...they’re probably looking for you right now”

“What? Why?”

“Well, the same reason I went looking for you” He furrowed his eyebrows, quickly finishing up his own cup of caffeine, before casually tossing the paper cup into a wastebasket nearby. Grabbing a hold of (y/n)’s paper cup, he does the same with hers whilst tugging lightly on her sweater sleeve

“Come on” He demands softly. (y/n) stares at his through confused (e/c) eyes

“Where are we going?” She asks cautiously

“To talk to someone. Preferably far away from our family”

“And why is that?”

“Because I don’t have time to answer stupid questions right now. Once we’re done, we’ll go back home”

“Alright-” She shrugs, following after him as he makes a brisk walk down the street, “-then who are we talking to?”

“...a friend…”

“I don’t like the way you said that”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hiya, Lance!”

“Oh, Jesus!”

The man screams out pathetically, small dog crushed protectively against his chest as he practically leaps up from his car seat upon seeing (y/n) and Five smiling sweetly at him. Before he’s able to coherently respond, Five is gently taking the white pup from his arms and leaning back. Taking this as her cue, (y/n) holds her breath. Thrusting her arm forward, she lets her intangible hand plunge straight through the man’s torso, fingers wiggling playfully in front of him

“What the hell is this-?”

“(y/n), my sister who has her hand through your chest-” Five explains smugly, motioning towards the shimmering limb protruding from the terrified man’s body, “-can hold her breath for about 5 minutes. Do you know what will happen when you try to escape or when that time runs out?”

Lance shakes his head quickly, tears threatening to escape his lash line as he stares at the smaller boy in front of him

“Her arm will create a hole through your flesh and organs faster than you can snap your fingers, Lance, that’s what’s going to happen...” Five leans back in the car seat, shrugging lightly to himself with a sickeningly sweet smile pulling at his thin lips, “...unless, of course, you’ll talk”

“W-What?”

“One chance, Biggs, one chance to tell me exactly what’s going on in that lab”

“I-I-I manufacture prosthetic devices for patients!” Lance blubbers out through shaking lips. Five, not satisfied with the answer, glances over to (y/n) behind the man’s seat. Nodding lightly, she thrusts her other hand through the back of Lance’s head, ghost-like fingers dancing above his watering eyes as he stares up at them

“O-Okay, okay!” His trembling cries fill the stuffy vehicle as he continues, “They’re fake patients! I bill the insurance companies and then sell them for cash on the black market!”

“Including eyeballs?” Five presses further, leaning forward. Lance nods

“They’re my biggest s-seller, I-I mean, I’ve got a waiting list of about t-twenty buyers”

“So, the serial number I told you?”

“Could’ve already been bought…of the b-books” Lance finishes quietly.

“I needed that list, Lance...” Five huffs out in frustration before his voice lowers dangerously, “...Names and numbers. Now”

“I-I don’t have it! I mean, not on me!” Lance cries out tears now streaming steadily down his cheeks, “The only copy’s in my safe at the lab!”

“Well, start the car then, Biggs” A dark smile makes its way onto Five’s face, hand motioning towards the girl in the backseat, “The clock is ticking.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plumes of inky black smoke rise from the burning inferno, flames licking the baby blue sky as they dance across the gravel roof of the building. Alarms ring in the distance. The pair of siblings find themselves using their powers to quickly exit the moving car, bodies rushing towards the blazing building. Feet pounding against the cement, (y/n) and Five turn the corner just in time to watch through widened eyes as the lab explodes. Body reacting faster than her mind, (y/n) leaps to the side to shield Five’s body with her own as concrete debris flies through the dangerously hot blast, the pair landing hard onto the sidewalk a few feet away. Shattered glass embedding themselves into the siblings flesh, (y/n) and Five slowly sit up from their spot with pained groans.

“No…” Five whispers out quietly, his voice laced with anger as he stares ahead.

“What the hell do we do now?” (y/n) asks almost desperately, (e/c) eyes searching the side of her brother's face as he continues to stare up at the blaze. As if shaking himself out of his trance, he lets out a tired sounding sighs, steel eyes turning to slowly meet his sisters gaze

“We need to get out of here before the cops come and ask questions”

“Five, where are we going to go? That lab was going to be the answer-”

“We’ll find a new answer then!” He barks out suddenly, jaw tightening upon seeing the girl flinch at his voice, “Look, I’m not-I’m not angry at you, I’m just angry in general, alright?”

Five stands up from the sidewalk, hand reaching down to gently tug his sister up. Lightly dusting the girls sweater off, he motions towards a small alleyway across the street, features softening for a moment

“Let’s go, Ghostie”

“Where?”

“To the Library”


	12. Falling Apart

"That's enough, Five"

"It's never enough..." 

"Give me the bottle-"

"No."

Not bothering to ask him again, (y/n) is quick to snatch the nearly half empty bottle of amber liquor from his shaking fingers. The strong smelling liquid sloshes against the thick glass. Five, eyes half open and bloodshot as he reaches out for the alcohol, let's out a huff of frustration

"Last time I checked-" He begins, words slurring slightly as he tries to poorly cover the sway of his body, "-I'm older than you, Ghostie. That means you have to listen to me"

"And last time I checked-" She counters through clenched teeth, her (e/c) eyes searching his for any sign of coherency, "-we were supposed to be trying to stop the apocalypse, Five, not...hiding out in some dusty library while you indulge in your borderline obsessive dependence on bourbon!"

Five, scoffing lightly, suddenly thrusts his hands forward to try and yank the bottle from her hands. His fingers pass straight through the glass, knuckles roughly slamming into the metal railing beside the pair. He cringes at the burning sensation beginning it's slow crawl across his hand

"That's cheating!" He whines like a child, watching through narrowed eyes as (y/n) continues to use her powers on the bottle grasped in her hand

"I'm trying to help you, Five!"

Theres a long silence that falls upon the pair, Five unable to face the girl and instead focusing his attention onto the mess of books strewn about the grey carpeted floor beneath them. (y/n), letting out a tired sounding sigh, places the bottle down next to her and reaches over to grab a gentle hold of his hand. He lets her, still never meeting her eyes. Turning the limb over, she examines the deep red bruising making its way across his knuckles. 

"The week before you disappeared-" she begins softly, thumb feather-light across the back of his hand as she continues, "-I started my individual training sessions with Dad. He would drag me to the pool and shove me into the deep end while I screamed at him to stop. He'd tell me I wasn't allowed to leave the water until I was able to hold my breath longer than I did the day before."

"You cried every day that week..." Five recalls the way his heart ached for his sister, watching from afar as she tried her best to hide her emotions from her siblings. They always teased her for being so sensitive, but he remembers feeling awful for the girl that week. Something about the way she closed herself off from them hurt him more than anything

"I did"

"Why are you telling me this?" 

"Do you remember what happened the night before you time traveled?" She asks, her gaze soft as she meets his steel colored eyes. He shakes his head gently, a hint of sobriety in his face as he watches her carefully

"No..."

"I almost drowned that day-" she explains quietly, shivering at the feeling of her fathers hands clasped upon her shoulders as he held her body down in the freezing waters, "-and instead of being angry at Dad, I was angry at myself. Convinced that I was a failure for not being strong enough to complete my training...that is, until someone very important to me said something I'll never forget."

Using her free hand, she gently pushes back the locks of inky black hair falling across the boys face, fingers soft against his dirt caked skin as his eyelids grow heavy

"What was it?" He asks through a whisper, body swaying until he's resting up against the balcony railings. (y/n) smiles

"He told me to stop crying-" she helps position him comfortably against the cool metal bars, watching as he slips in and out of consciousness, "-and to realize that failure is a stone. You can either tie it around your ankles and sink to the bottom of the lake or use it to start your path across."

"Smart guy"

"Those were your words, Five-" She sighs, a motherly smile pulling at her lips when he begins to curl into himself, "-maybe you should take your own advice"

"What do you mean?" He yawns, pulling the pale mannequin he insisted he take with them closer to his body, fingers gingerly caressing the soft fabric of the torn button down it wore. 

"Today was a failure...but you get to decide whether or not it's a part of your path"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Didn't know this library was haunted"

"Ha ha, Diego-" (y/n) replies sarcastically, sitting up from her uncomfortable spot on the floor next to Five, "-very funny"

Standing before her a few feet away, was Diego and Luther, their taller bodies towering over her as she slowly stretches out her aching limbs. Sleeping peacefully beside her, Five stirs slightly, body clinging to the cool mannequin as he mumbles something nobody else can understand. The pair, watching the sister as she carefully stands from her spot on the rough carpet of the library, scrunch their noses up at the object they see in her hand

"Is that...bourbon?" Luther asks, worry evident in his voice as he protectively snatches the glass bottle from her grasp

"Damn, Casper-" Diego chuckles lightly, slapping a rough hand on her shoulder as if congratulating her on some big accomplishment, "-half a bottle too? Never knew you were this hardcore"

"I'm not the one who drank it" 

"Then...who did?" Luther questions quietly, (y/n) finding herself laughing lightly at the genuine confusion making it's way across each boys face. It makes her wonder just how many brain cells are bouncing around those empty heads of theirs, if there are any at all.

"Whose the one passed out on the floor of a library and cuddling a mannequin?"

"Five?" 

"It's times like this I realize why I was the only one to get into college..."

"What did you say?" Diego questions her with a raised eyebrow, a playful glint in his dark eyes as he watches her chuckle lightly to herself

"Nothing important, Diggy-" She sighs, crossing her arms over her chest before she's softly motioning towards the boy still asleep on the floor behind her, "-how the hell did you find us?"

"You think you were the only one to go looking for Five after last night?" Luther asks somewhat coldly, (y/n) immediately picking up on the tone of his voice and the way he doesn't look her in the eyes as he speaks. 

"What happened while I was gone?"

"How do you know s-something happened?" Diego asks, genuinely curious as to how she was able to tell. She nods over to Luther, gaze softening as she tries to approach the situation gently

"He's avoiding eye contact-" She explains, motioning towards Diego as she continues, "-and you stuttered slightly when I asked. Both of you are also a lot more guarded than usual."

"What the hell-?"

"It doesn't take a psychology major to figure out you're both too nervous to say something. Spit it out"

"Mom...passed away. We found her this morning, just a little bit after you left" Luther finally spills, the sadness she saw in his sky blue eyes finally making sense. Hands squeezing the soft fabric of her hoodie, (y/n) turns her gaze down to her own shoes. She bites her lip to avoid the choking sob making it's way up her throat

"They killed her, didn't they?"

"Who?"

"Those psychos from last night-" She clarifies quietly, finally able to swallow back the lump in her throat as she speaks, "-they killed her?"

"It makes the most sense" Diego answers through a sigh, his own poorly hidden grief evident in his dark eyes as he leans up against the metal railing beside the group. (y/n) takes it upon herself to slowly approach him, offering silent comfort through the soft touch of her hand upon his.

"We'll find them, Diego...I promise"

"It's whatever-" He is quick to shield himself from the pair as they watch him clear his throat lightly, misty eyes wiped away by the rough leather of his glove as he tries to hide his vulnerability, "-let's just get you and Five out of here"

"Wait, why?" (y/n) questions, glancing over to Luther who sighs tiredly

"We need answers from Five and-" a small smile tugs at the large mans lips, his light eyes soft as he glances back towards the boy still fast asleep on the floor, "-he's more comfortable when he's around you."

"Alright, but where are we going? Those weirdos could use the house as their shooting range again"

"That's why-" Diego gingerly scoops up Five in his arms, quickly transferring the boys body over to Luther with a sly grin, "-we're heading to my place. Hope you like the smell of blood and BO, sweetheart"

"Let me order a pizza-" She chuckles, following after her two taller brothers as they begin their descent down the winding metal staircase of the library, "-and I'm fine with anything"

"You paying, Ghostie?"

"Only if you beat me in an arm wrestling match"

"You're on."


	13. Family Tension

Between the soft pads of her fingertips held a clear cup, void of imperfections except for the small chip on the rim of the cold glass. The somewhat cloudy water she had poured into it sloshed against the sides as she walked slowly through the dimly lit room, her feet careful to navigate through the clutter of clothes strewn across the concrete below, oriental rug pushed up into a heap by the desk covered in a layer of fine dust that could be blown away by a single sigh. 

"When is it supposed to happen?" (y/n)'s gaze shifts to watch as Luther leans forward in his seat, massive body barely able to balance itself on the leather chair beneath him as he speaks to Five, "This...apocalypse."

"I can't give you the exact hour, but-" Five's voice is filled with exhaustion, the younger looking boy rubbing at his temples to try and alleviate the headache brought on by the ungodly amount of alcohol he's consumed in the last 24 hours, "-from what I could gather, we have four days left."

Making her way over to Five, (y/n) offers the small glass of water to her sibling, gently coaxing him to drink the liquid with a silent nod as he takes the cold cup into his own hand. Unable to decline, the boy takes a few sips.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Luther voice breaks the silence that briefly filled the room, voice unable to hide the frustration he feels. Five shakes his head lightly, his sharp features taking on an almost hopeless looking expression as he vacantly stares at the posters decorating Diego's concrete walls

"It wouldn't have mattered..."

"Of course it would, Five-" Luther argues, using his gloved hands to express his feelings as he continues, "-we could've banded together and helped you try to stop this thing."

"For the record, you already tried."

(y/n) and Luther find themselves furrowing their eyebrows at this statement, able to pick up on the strangely guarded vulnerability in his voice as he speaks to them. 

"What do you mean?" Luther questions, a hesitancy in his words upon trying to figure out the answer himself. 

Five doesn't answer for what feels like an eternity, his jaw tightening as he moves to place the half empty glass of water onto the nightstand beside him. (y/n) watches curiously as he refuses to make any eye contact again, resorting to staring down at his own hands as he folds them anxiously in his own lap, his eyes full of an emotion she couldn't quite register as he observed the way his fingers moved against each other. 

"I found all of you." he finally speaks through the deafening silence, (y/n) noticing the way he seemed almost afraid to continue explaining, "Your bodies."

It's as if the words were able to weigh down the souls of each sibling when they pass his lips, hearts seemingly stopping in chests as they all take a moment to mull over the words in their own minds once more. 

"We die?" (y/n)'s voice is quiet, fragile in nature as she asks the question they all knew the answer to. Five's steel eyes move to study (y/n)'s soft features, watching the way she takes in a shaking breath of air in an attempt to calm herself. Flashes of a memory pass through his mind, grey washed images of his sisters blood covered face as she lay crushed beneath a building trying to save a world that had been nothing but cruel to them.

"You were together-" he answers softly, his usually stoic demeaner replaced by one filled with an almost bitter grief as he speaks, "-trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world."

"Wait-" Luther clears his throat lightly, trying his hardest to keep his leader like demeaner as he asks the question, "-how do you know that?"

(y/n), understanding the small glance Five gives her, reaches into the back pocket of her pants and yanks out a tattered cloth. Fingers gentle as they unfold the soot covered fabric, the girl reveals to the pair the prosthetic eye she had been holding onto since it fell out of Five's pocket during his crisis in the library. 

"Is that...an eye?"

"This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you-" Five explains, watching as his sister hands the prosthetic over to their larger brother, "-must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down."

"Whose head?"

"That's what we've been trying to find out-" (y/n) answers through a tired sounding sigh, "-but, we've kind of hit a dead end-"

"Piece of shit!" 

The group all whip around in there spots to face the doorway to the dust filled basement they've been resting in for the past hour of so, eyes moving to watch as Diego's anger filled form bursts into the room. 

"Do you have even the slightest fucking clue what you just did, Five-?" 

His roar is cut short when he is suddenly grabbed by Luther, the larger brother's arms wrapping themselves around the heated man spitting muffled profanities into his thick coat sleeve. Five watches lazily as Luther then lifts Diego a few inches off of the ground, the gorilla sized man hugging him to his chest to stop what was undoubtedly pre-meditated murder

"Get your ape hands off of me!" 

"I can do this as long as it takes to calm you down" Luther sighs into the yellow washed air, (y/n) finding herself studying the way Diego's eyes hold an anger she's seen before. The type of white hot rage used to mask a more painful emotion

"Fine..." Although the anger is still evident in his eyes, he's able to relax his tensed body enough to grant access to his own legs again, Luther dropping the smaller sibling down to the concrete

"Now-" He begins, using his larger body to slightly shield Five from Diego as he continues, "-wanna tell us what you're talking about?"

"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back." Diego explains through clenched teeth, dark eyes never taking themselves off of the tired looking Five who sits upon his bed, "He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's and then at Gimble Brothers, after those guys in the masks attacked the academy, looking for him."

"None of which is any of your concern-"

"It is now-" Diego interrupts, voice low as he smiles bitterly, "-since they just killed my friend."

The room falls into an uncomfortable silence, the three siblings finding themselves staring at their younger looking brother as he avoids their gazes. Luther, taking it upon himself like usual to find answers to questions they all wanted to ask, finally speaks up

"Who are they?"

"It doesn't matter-"

"Five-" (y/n)'s voice, although quiet, cuts through the air like a sharpened blade, arms crossed over her chest as she demands the silence of the room, "-if this family means anything to you, you'd stop avoiding our questions"

"You think I don't care about my family?"

"I know you care, Five, but all we're asking is for you to show it by not giving us some bullshit remark about this not being important!" She argues, feeling herself grow slightly saddened as she recalls all of the times she respected his boundaries whenever she tried to get any information out of him, "Please...trust us, Five. Stop with the secrets and show us that we can trust you too."

Her voice was like an autumn rain, gentle as it passed and yet able to give the younger looking brother a freezing realization. (y/n) was right. How could he sit here and claim to be trying to save his family when he was one of the reasons it was being attacked in the first place. Shifting his steel gaze to meet (y/n)'s soft (e/c) eyes, finding a familiar comfort in their benevolence, he clears his throat lightly, hands moving to lace themselves together as he finally speaks

"They work for my former employer-" he explains through a sigh, mind racing with memories begging to be seen, "-a woman called The Handler. She's the one who sent them to stop me. As soon as Diego's friend got into their way...let's just say that they consider that fair game."

"And now they're my fair game-" Diego's voice is filled with malice as he speaks up, leather-clad form moving towards the concrete steps to the exit, "-and I'm gonna see to it they pay."

"You shouldn't go after them, Diego-"

"You don't get to tell me what to do, pipsqueak"

"You don't get it, moron, they've killed people far more dangerous than you"

"Yeah? Well, we'll see about that."


	14. Vulnerable

-1 Hour Later-

The place she had called home for most of her life seemed void of any life as she slowly stepped through the splintered archway to the living room, ash clinging to her beat-up chucks falling to the sleek wooden floors in charcoal grey billows of smoke. Through the rays of lemon yellow sunlight casting checkerboard patterns across deep walnut floors, (y/n)'s soft gaze finds itself landing upon the mocha colored railing of the staircase beside her, lips parted slightly upon catching the strange satin-like shine against the matte wood. 

"What the hell-?"

There, smeared across the thick railing, was a scarlet colored handprint illuminated by the summer sun as it makes its slow roll across the cornflower blue sky. Just underneath that was a footprint, blood painted across the marble stair as if the owner had stumbled upon the slick surface, the pattern of the wearers shoes like a stamp on the cream colored stone. 

"Just when I thought I could catch a break..." (y/n)'s words come out mumbled as she begins her ascension up the frigid stone steps of the winding staircase before her, body on full alert as her eyes scan every crimson colored splotch she passed. It isn't long until she's finally standing at the top, form just before the shadow that completely envelopes the hallway ahead. Through the darkness, (y/n) can make out a pale light seeping out from a crack in one of the doors, a door she found herself recognizing as the one to her childhood room based on the faded marking along the frame. Shoes move against dust covered floors until she's standing before the wooden slab, finger tips placing themselves upon the cool metal of the knob just below her hip. Hesitating only slightly, the girl finally pushes the door open, (e/c) eyes watching as it swings towards the wall behind it. 

"Klaus?"

Curled up into himself, freckled knees pressed into his chest as his arms wrap themselves around the scratched skin of his calves, Klaus lays motionless on top of (y/n)'s baby blue comforter. His skin, pale beneath the yellow light above, resembles that of a water color painting, deep hues of blue and green creating landscapes across his arms and legs. He was hurt, but something in his vacant stare told her the pain she couldn't see was far more agonizing than that of the bruises on his body. 

"Are you okay?" Her voice is gentle as it passes through the air, her (e/c) eyes briefly glancing at the dog tags laying beside his head. He doesn't answer, tulip colored lips quivering slightly as he moves to meet her gaze. It's in that moment (y/n) is able to understand at least half of the story he was too afraid to tell, heart aching at the sight of an emotion she knew all too well. Grief. A sorrowful feeling that takes over a mind in a wrathful plague, squeezing the energy from the soul until the only thing left is the husk of a human being too afraid to ever love again. (y/n) lets her body move forward, her smaller form climbing up onto the mattress with him until her back is resting up against the wall, sweater covered arms outstretched in a silent offer to the broken looking brother laying beside her. Without saying a word, Klaus accepts her comforting embrace, body moving to cling to hers as she holds him. Partially laying on her lap with his bruised arms wrapping themselves around her torso, Klaus breathes in his sisters comforting scent, the familiar citrus aroma she had since they were kids the reason he had wandered into her room in the first place. 

"You still use that weird lemon soap..." he mumbles quietly into her sweater, unsure how to properly talk to the girl he helplessly clung onto as if she would disappear between his fingers. 

"It's cheap and it smells nice-" she explains through a small smile, honestly just happy to hear his voice, "-figure, why change my soap when I've already found one I like, you know?"

A moment of silence overtakes the room once she's finished speaking, the pair able to sit in each others comforting presence as clouds pass by the window beside them in pairs, cotton like puffs of white blowing past an ocean blue sky. 

"(y/n)..."

His voice is fragile as he calls out to her, the sound reminding the girl of a time in which she had heard it before during their childhood, a time in which he was kid seeking the comfort of a sister he trusted to not make fun of him.

"Yeah, Klaus?"

"When you feel this way-" he begins quietly, shifting his body so that he is now sitting beside her, grief ridden eyes searching hers as he continues, "-what do you do?"

Reaching out her hand, she places it against his face, palm tickled by the dark stubble on his jaw as she gently rubs her thumb across his cheek. Offering an understanding smile and the comforting touch of her hand, (y/n) sighs lightly

"You cry."

And so, that is exactly what he does. Through the tangerine yellow sunbeams slipping through the sheer curtains of her window, (y/n) watches as the oceans of sadness behind his eyes begin their unforgiving flood, steady stream of tears painting rivers down his face as he bites his lip to hold back a choked sob threatening to escape his throat. Quick to react to his emotions, (y/n) coaxes him forward until he is once again wrapped up in her comforting embrace, her cheek resting against his as she whispers kind words through the pained sobs escaping his lips. Its then that they are both separated from the world and stripped down to their rawest forms. A stage set for an audience to watch as a sister lets her brother fall apart in her arms int he hopes he could be repaired as a stronger individual. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ghostie"

"Yeah?"

"You-uh-doing anything later?"

(y/n) turns around to face the disheveled looking man sitting cross legged at the kitchen table, leaning back her body until her hips rest against the cool marble counters. It's been about half an hour since Klaus had broken down in her arms, the girl deciding he should drink something other than the cheap whiskey she had to hide from him. Handing him a small glass of apple juice, the one that made him laugh because it apparently looked like piss, she smiles

"With the whole 'end of the world' thing going on, I've been skipping class so-" she answers through a sigh, shrugging her shoulders lightly as she continues, "-no, not really. "

"Do you think you could-" he's hesitant to continue, still feeling somewhat vulnerable, "-go somewhere with me?"

"Why do you need me with you?"

"Because I feel like shit-" he explains quietly, taking a sip of his drink before continuing with a sigh, "-and you help me not feel that way. At least, not as much."

"Alright."

"Alright?" he echoes. (y/n) nods

"I'll go and help you feel less like shit"

"Awesome-" he exclaims through a breathy exhale, lazily pushing himself up off of his seat to coax his sister up from her own, "-let's go get a ride from Diego."

"What makes you think he'll give us a ride?"

"You're you and I'm me" he answers vaguely, grabbing a gentle hold of her wrist to lead her through the archway of the kitchen. (y/n) chuckles lightly

"And what does that mean?"

"It means-" he tosses a wink over his shoulder, tired smile pulling up against his stubbled face as he continues to walk, "-that he can't say no because he hates us the least out of all of our siblings. Plus, I'm good at pestering and you're good at being nice."

"We really do make a pretty good team, don't we?"

"Always have, always will, Ghostie"


	15. Three Peas in A Pod

"So..."

(y/n) shifts her warm (e/c) eyed gaze so that it rests on the back of Diego's shaved head, briefly glancing up into the silver mirror above the steering wheel to meet his curious observance before he is returning his attention onto the grey washed road ahead. Raindrops paint the smudged windshield navy as the car speeds past a city filled with people who knew nothing of the hopeless future that awaits them

"Are you guys going to tell me what the hell is going on-" he questions through a tired sounding sigh, gloved fingers tapping against the leather of the wheel gripped tightly in his hands, "-or am I just supposed to sit in this awkward ass silence?"

Coming to stoplight at an empty intersection, blinking neon casting cherry colored warmth across the groups faces, Diego and (y/n) find themselves taking this opportunity to study the seemingly empty shell of their brother curled up in the passenger seat. Although his body was bathed in the wine colored stoplight above, the siblings saw nothing but an indigo sadness in his eyes. Diego's sharp features soften momentarily upon seeing this, focusing back onto the road once red turns green and silence becomes deafening

"You okay?" he wonders aloud, never fully directing the question towards his brother in the poor attempt to keep himself distant from his family

Klaus, instead of answering him, chooses to fill his mouth with a cheap bottle of rum that he had been cradling to his chest as if it were his own child. 

"Well, this is a first..." 

"What is?" (y/n) questions quietly, leaning her body forward so that she can better see her brother as he continues through a small smile

"Our brother Klaus being silent..." he explains, glancing towards the girl before returning his gaze onto the rain soaked windshield ahead, "Last time he was this quiet, we were 12. Stole a pair of Grace's heels, tripped on the stairs, and broke his jaw."

As (y/n) listens to Diego, she finds herself glancing towards their dejected looking brother, watching as the vacant look in his eyes slowly disappears. He was listening. It wasn't much, but it meant that he wasn't completely checked out anymore. 

"How long was it wired shut again?" Diego finally speaks directly to Klaus this time, more confident in approaching the sibling now that he had something to talk about.

"...Eight weeks" 

When Klaus speaks, his voice is quiet, almost robotic as he answers their brother.

"Eight weeks..." Diego echoes through a sigh, reminiscing with a smile as he continues, "Eight weeks of glorious silence-"

"Hey, thanks for the ride-" Klaus suddenly interrupts him, his ocean eyes fixed upon the blacked out windows of a building just across the street, "-Ghost and I will catch you later, alright?"

"What-?"

Before Diego is able to continue, Klaus is throwing open the rusted car door and stumbling out onto the road with (y/n) using her abilities to quickly follow after. At this point in their relationship, the girl realized it was better to not question the unpredictable when she wanted the answers she needed. So, that is exactly what she did. She followed her scruffy looking brother through the cool rain that fell from the ash colored clouds above and never questioned where he was leading her, even when that meant having to step into a bar that catered to veterans who had fought in foreign wars. 

Charcoal covered chucks leave dusted footprints upon the velvet 'welcome' mat beneath her feet as she stops in her place, her soft (e/c) eyes moving to quietly scan the honey washed room in all of its musk filled glory. From cracked lightbulbs hanging on rusted chains, the bar is covered in a lemon glow as bearded men sip from glass cups held within their wrinkled hands. Covered in scars and tattoos, (y/n) found herself shrinking slightly in her spot at the annoyed glint in their eyes upon seeing her and her brother waltzing into what she assumed must have been their safe haven. Its then that the girl realizes that said brother is no longer by her side.

"Klaus?"

Calling out his name through a whisper in the attempt to keep from further disrupting the group of older men, (y/n) is quick to find the missing sibling. Through a parted crowd of leather vests and flannel button ups, she can make out the lanky figure of her brother as he slowly approaches a brick wall covered top to bottom in glass picture frames and newspaper clippings. It isn't long until she's quietly making her way over to him, (e/c) eyes watching as he reaches out to gently caress one of the hundreds of photos before them. 

"Hey, Dave..."

The sound of his voice almost shatters the girls heart when it slips past his lips, simple greeting uttered through a trembling smile and eyes filled with complete adoration. Its in this vulnerable moment, the pair submerged into their own silent oceans, that (y/n) is able to finally piece together this confusing puzzle using the yellowing picture beneath Klaus's shaking fingers. 

"I don't know what the two of you are doing-"

A mans low voice suddenly interrupts the sensitive moment, (y/n) turning in her spot to watch through slightly widened eyes as one of the bearded men stalks over to the pair. With a disgusting smelling cigarette hanging between his chapped lips, the salt and peppered haired man continues

"-but you best get a move on 'cause this bar is for vets only"

"I am a vet" Klaus states plainly through a tired sounding sigh, never turning around to face the older man as he speaks. Its here that (y/n) notices a familiar face in the shadows beside the pair, intense brown-eyed gaze cutting through the crowd as he watches the interaction silently.

"Really?" the veteran lets out a deep chuckle, condescending tone irritating both Klaus and (y/n) as he continues, "Where'd you serve, toothpick?"

"It's really none of your business, man-" 

"None of my business?" the man echoes with a scoff, blowing rings of smoke in (y/n)'s face, "You got balls comin' in here, pretendin' you're one of us."

"Oh, I have every right to be here-" Klaus slowly shift until he's finally facing the man, frustration evident in the way he clenches his jaw as he spits out his words, "-just like you, _asshole_."

When the insult leaves her brothers lips, (y/n) is quick to step in front of him, (e/c) eyes narrowed as she holds up one of her hands to stop the veteran just before he's able to pounce. Diego, who had been watching the entire scene unfold from a distance, takes this as his cue to step out into the spotlight and ready himself for what will likely come.

"What do you think you're doing-?"

"Look-" (y/n) interrupts him, trying her best to keep a steady tone in order to deescalate the situation, "-we _are_ technically allowed to be in here, whether you like it or not. However, since we are obviously not wanted, we'll leave. Alright?"

"Sure thing"

"Great-"

"As long as that _twig_ over there apologizes"

Something seems to snap inside of her then, a chord that grew too thin. Diego and Klaus saw it two. Now standing side by side, the pair of brothers watch as the smaller sibling slowly furrows her eyebrows. 

" _Apologize_?" she echoes quietly, tongue poking the inside of her cheek as she tries to keep herself calm, "He hasn't done anything wrong. Why should he apologize when _you're_ the one causing a scene and sticking your nose in somebody else's business?"

"I fought for this country-" the man argues through clenched teeth, fists balled up at his sides as he takes a dangerous step toward her, "-I laid down my life for your freedom. You should show me respect, sweetheart"

"If you have to ask for respect, it's obvious that you don't deserve it-" (y/n)'s (e/c) eyes seem to darken when these words pass her lips, "- _sweetheart._ "

Taken aback by her suddenly vicious tone, the man directs his attention onto the pair of boys behind her, frown peaking out from beneath his wiry mustache as he motions to their sister with one of his wrinkled hands

"You better control your bitch before I do"

"What did you just say?" Upon hearing the mans venom filled words, Diego steps forward, jaw tightening as he takes a place beside his sister

" _I said_ -" the older man smirks lightly, amused as he stares down at the pair before him, "-that you better control _your bitch_ before I do"

"Yeah...That's what I thought I heard" Diego sighs, glancing over at (y/n) before turning his attention back onto the man smiling smugly in front of them, "Tell me, big guy. You got medical insurance?"

"Why, 'cause _you're_ gonna put me in the hospital, pipsqueak?"

"Oh no, _I'm_ not going to... _She_ is"

Before he's able to reply, a guttural scream is suddenly tearing at his throat, helpless sounding noise the only thing to fill the stale air. All eyes shift down until they land upon the man's steel toed boot, leather and flesh torn open from a billiards pole (y/n) had silently slipped through both floor and foot while he was distracted by her brother. A trick she had learned from her father shortly before her departure from the family. An ability he had described as being almost too dangerous for her to have. With a crooked smile playing on her soft lips, (y/n) motions for her brothers to follow after her as she makes her way towards the exit, Klaus and Diego trading pride filled glances the whole way there. Just before they leave however, she stops in her place and turns to the crowd surrounding the man still writhing in pain from his trapped and bleeding foot

"Remember, boys-" (y/n) tosses a sickeningly sweet smile in their direction, watching in amusement as the dozens of men twice her size flinch in response, "-fighting a war does not mean that you are allowed to be a shmuck. You're the heroes of our country, right? 

_Act like it."_

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"You got a big mouth, you know that?" 

Now back inside of the rusted car Diego probably stole during one of his nightly excursions, (y/n) rests her head against the hard leather of the backseat, (e/c) eyes memorizing the tan swirls of suede above her head as Klaus sighs loudly in response to their brother 

"Oh, wow-" he drawls, glancing over his shoulder to toss an eyeroll towards his sister, "-what a shocking revelation, Diego"

"And you-" Diego turns, wrapping his arm around the back of his seat as he settles his dark-eyed gaze onto (y/n), "-what the hell was that in there?"

"What do you mean?" she questions, eyebrows furrowing slightly when she meets his stare

"You turned that dude in there into a fucking kebab, Casper."

"Yeah, I guess I kinda did..."

"Kinda?" he echoes with a scoff before continuing, "Dad always said your powers were defensive, since when could you do that?"

"Since forever?" she chuckles lightly at the way his voice directly contradicted his eyes, stern tone contrasting amusement, "Dad never wanted me to be on the offensive like you guys, said we needed a shield."

"Yeah? Well, screw him-" Diego turns back around in his seat and places his leather gloved hands back onto the steering wheel, avoiding her almost child like smile, "-'cause a trick or two like that could come in handy. Don't hold back anymore, alright? Or else I'll kick your ass"

"Sure thing, Diggy"

"Hey, I'm kind of hungry-" Klaus interrupts suddenly, tired sounding voice catching the attention of both siblings as he continues, "-anybody feeling up for barbeque?"

Its then that Diego and (y/n) find themselves replaying the events that took place just moments before the heated conversation in the bar, the image of heartbreaking vulnerability beneath a lemon spotlight forcing itself to the forefront of their minds. Knowing it was time for Diego to talk to him, (y/n) leans back into the cool fabric of her seat, watching silently as he studies the scruffy looking man beside him. There's a beat of silence that overtakes the car before he's shaking his head lightly

"Don't do this, man" 

"Do what?" Klaus questions nonchalantly, his fidgeting fingers as they brush past the dog tags dangling from his neck the only indication of his anxiety

"This!" Diego uses his hands to motion towards his brother, eyebrows furrowed as he pokes his finger into Klaus's chest, "Pretending that everythings fine-"

"Everything is fine!" Klaus argues, but he is almost immediately interrupted by Diego again

"Really? You were just just in there crying like a child, Klaus!"

"Because I lost someone, okay? The only person I've ever truly loved more than myself..."

His words are spoken through a defeated sigh when he turns to avoid Diego's analyzing gaze, the silence that follows even louder than the revelation he gives them as it hangs in the tense air surrounding them. It is during this moment of quiet that (y/n) finds herself studying Diego. As a stranger, he was prideful and cold. An individual who unapologetically took up space in a room and only ever smiled when an insult passed his lips. As a brother, however, (y/n) learned that he was so much more. She gets to see this in the next set of words that quietly leave his mouth after what seemed like an eternity of silence

"That sucks." Diego clears his throat lightly, dark eyes somewhat vacant as he continues softly, "I know how that feels so, uh, sorry..."

It isn't much, but it was enough to get a small smile to tug at Klaus's lips. Sure, Diego was prideful and cold, but those words can only describe the surface of a man too afraid to get close to the ones he loved and break down walls he worked so hard putting up after years of abuse. For now, this was all he could offer. A strangely distant shoulder to cry on and an awkward condolences. Luckily for him, (y/n) and Klaus were proud of him for trying anyway. Just before anybody else is able to say anything though, (y/n) notices a shadowed figure as it passes from behind the car, large form blocking out the suns warm rays for a moment before disappearing. Turning around in her seat to scan the world that laid behind the back windshield, gaining the attention of both of her brothers, she watches through narrowed eyes as the massive form from before comes back into view. 

"What is it, (y/n)?" Diego studies her intently, able to feel the nervous energy suddenly surrounding the girl

"That guy..." she states quietly, motioning with the nod of her head towards a man dressed in a navy colored suit as he clumsily shoves his gorilla-like body into a car in the parking lot across from them, "He's got the same build as the one that almost killed me the other night"

"What guy-?" Klaus's question is interrupted when he is finally able to pinpoint who (y/n) was talking about, unkempt eyebrows furrowing upon his forehead as he continues, "Hey, I know that guy!"

"You know him-?"

"He and a really angry lady tortured me-" he explains slowly, almost child-like as he frowns, "-I barely got out with my life..."

"That's it."

Diego's frustration filled exhalation of words are barely heard by the pair through the sudden purr of an engine, rusted vehicle lurching forward an inch before he's pulling out of his spot on the gravel strewn lot. In the rearview mirror, (y/n) watches as the suited man does the same, unaware of the car across the street whipping around to follow after him. Leaning forward in her leather seat, (y/n) throws a somewhat nervous glance towards the heated brother beside her

"Are you sure the three of us can handle this, Diego?" she asks. 

He smirks

"When its the three of us...we can handle anything."


End file.
